"The Pakistan Army is at the forefront of the West's war on terror, policing the border with Afghanistan and the lawless tribal agencies where Osama bin Laden is said to be hiding. Since October 2009 more than 30,000 troops have been mounting a huge offensive to crush the insurgents of the Taliban. More recently, hundreds have died in suicide attacks across the country as the Islamists have brought their war against the pro-Western Government to the country's cities. The success or failure of t...
Campaign Assessment in Counterinsurgency
by U S Military, Department of Defense (Dod), and U S Government
Unconventional war is an umbrella term which includes insurgencies, counter-insurgencies, terrorism and religious conflicts. Insurgencies and communal conflicts have become much more common in this region since 1947, and more people have died in South Asia due to unconventional wars than conventional warfare. The essays in this volume are organized in two sections. While the first section deals with insurgencies, counter-insurgencies and terrorism; the second section covers the religious aspect...
The year 2015 is the 50th anniversary of the original Australian Tunnel Rats arrival in Vietnam, one year after Australian troops were withdrawn from active duty in Afghanistan. Although on the face of it these two conflicts, separated by half a century, could scarcely be more different, for Sappers - army engineers - it has been very familiar territory. For a start, as in Vietnam, Sappers in Afghanistan have suffered a proportionately greater death toll than any other Army unit, with 20 per cen...
Creating White Space
by U S Military, Department of Defense (Dod), and Robert Ross
Writing under a pen name, a former member of the British Royal Marine Commandos provides an insider account of the shadowy world of private U.S. military contracting, revealing operations too dangerous and sensitive to be officially acknowledged, including the search for Osama Bin Laden and the response to the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.
Recommendations for Success in Afghanistan
by M Chris Mason and Strategic Studies Institute
"Why has the Taliban been so much more effective in presenting messages that resonate with the Afghan population than the United States, the Afghan Government and their allies? This book, based on years of field research and the assessment of hundreds of original source materials, examines the information operations and related narratives of Afghan insurgents, especially the Afghan Taliban, and investigates how the Taliban has won the information war. Taliban messaging, wrapped in the narrative...
The Author sets the scene with his early experiences as a sniper during his 2004 Cimic House Al-Amarah tour in Iraq where hard lessons were learnt. Next stop after rigorous training came participation on Op HERRICK 8/9 in Helmand District, Afghanistan. Having already been a Sniper Instructor for eight years by the start of the Helmand Tour, he is well qualified to explain sniping tactics and techniques in fascinating detail. Together with the operational background, his descriptions of many sni...
From the start of the 20th century to the most recent major offensives, here are fifty accounts of the battles that made the modern world, described in superb detail by historians and writers including John Keegan, Alan Clark, John Strawson, Charles Mey, John Pimlott, and John Laffin.All the major conflicts are covered, from two world wars, through Korea, Vietnam, Bosnia, Chechnya, to Iraq and Afghanistan. Among the battles featured are: the Somme, Passchendaele, Battle of Britain, Stalingrad, E...
Developing a Self-Sustaining Afghan National Army
by Us Army Major Trahon T Mashack
Fresh Perspectives on the 'War on Terror'
Local Rule
by Austin Long, Stephanie Pezard, Bryce Loidolt, and Todd C Helmus
Why has the US so dramatically failed in Afghanistan since 2001? Dominant explanations have ignored the bureaucratic divisions and personality conflicts inside the US state. This book rectifies this weakness in commentary on Afghanistan, by exploring the significant role of these divisions in the US's difficulties in the country that meant the battle was virtually lost before it even began. The main objective of the book is to deepen readers understanding of the impact of bureaucratic politics o...
A Rock Between Hard Places
by Kristian Berg Harpviken and Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh
What drives neighbouring states to intervene in the Afghan conflict? This book challenges mainstream analyses which place Afghanistan at the centre - the so-called 'heart' - of a large pan- Asian region whose fate is predicated on Afghan stability. Instead Harpviken and Tadjbakhsh situ--ate Afghanistan on the margins of three regional security complexes - those of South Asia, Central Asia, and the Persian Gulf - each characterised by deep security rivalries, which, in turn, informs their engagem...
"In 1979 I was a Presbyterian minister, a hospital chaplain, and a pacifist. In 1980, I left the church and joined the Air Force. The day I showed up at the recruiter's office, I was twenty-eight, under-exercised, a wimp, and extraordinarily ignorant of the military. I intended it to be a stopgap measure while I figured out what to do next, but I never got bored." When Cheryl Dietrich joined the US Air Force, she began a transformation from overweight introvert and military neophyte into one of...
In a collection of compelling, original portraits, the authors celebrate the extraordinary heroism on the battlefield and the equally valuable contributions on the home front of this generation's American veterans.
"I met Marine Sgt. John Peck, a quadruple amputee who has received a double arm transplant, at Walter Reed in 2017. Today, it was my honor to welcome John (HERO) to the Oval, with his wonderful wife Jessica. He also wrote a book that I highly recommend, Rebuilding Sergeant Peck."-President Donald Trump Marine Sgt. John Peck survived an IED during the War on Terror that left him with a traumatic brain injury, amnesia, and cost him his marriage. He survived another three years later, one that le...