counterinsurgency

David Kilcullen, the Australian anthropologist who partnered with U.S. General David Petraeus to implement the American “surge” counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq, spoke via satellite to the Conference of Defence Associations Institute seminar in Ottawa today.

“Earlier Pakistani campaigns against the Taliban do not offer an encouraging precedent. In Bajaur, a part of the tribal areas, two main economic centers, the market towns of Loe Sam and Inayat Kalay, remain in ruins nearly eight months after the army smashed them in pursuit of the Taliban and claimed victory.”

U.S. Tightens Airstrike Policy in Afghanistan

U.S. military has massively expanded use of remote-piloted drone attacks within Pakistan since last autumn, and especially since Obama’s inauguration.

Understanding the cost and reasons for it helps, writes Paul Wells, but by itself it doesn’t fix anything

Progress in Afghanistan shouldn’t be measured by the number of dead Taliban

Must-reads: Henry Aubin on the Order of Canada; Graham Thomson in Kandahar; Vaughn Palmer on BC’s emissions targets.