Before the British burst onto the scene, Helmand was ‘stable’ in the sense that there was almost no Taliban presence and little prospect of any. After three years of British presence, the province was the most savage combat zone in the world. With British forces and their commanders out of their depth, it was only […]
Investment in Blood: The True Cost of Britain’s Afghan War by Frank Ledwidge (2013)
Investment in Blood: The True Cost of Britain’s Afghan War by Frank Ledwidge (2013)
25 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: Afghanistan, war against terror
Losing Small Wars: British Military Failure in the 9/11 Wars by Frank Ledwidge, second edition (2017)
14 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Afghanistan, Iraq
‘You have the watches, but we have the time.’ (Taliban saying, possibly apocryphal, page 93) Summary This is a quite mind-blowing, jaw-dropping analysis of the incompetence, ignorance, narrow-mindedness, bad planning, profligacy, bureaucratic in-fighting, politicking, terrible leadership, lack of strategy, appalling mismanagement and ineptitude which characterised the British Army campaigns in Iraq (2003 to 2009) and […]
Losing Small Wars: British Military Failure in the 9/11 Wars by Frank Ledwidge, second edition (2017)
The Stinger Missile: The Incredible Weapon That Changed the battlefield
04 Jan 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: Afghanistan
The Taliban, explained
13 Nov 2021 Leave a comment
in development economics, war and peace Tags: Afghanistan, war against terror
There is still a war on, you know
07 Oct 2021 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Afghanistan, war against terror
1842 Retreat From Kabul
24 Sep 2021 Leave a comment
in defence economics, development economics, economic history, growth disasters, war and peace Tags: Afghanistan, age of empires
Lee Kuan Yew’s Prediction on Afghanistan in 2009
03 Sep 2021 Leave a comment
in defence economics, development economics, economic history, growth disasters, war and peace Tags: Afghanistan, war against terror
Papier-Mâché Tiger | Conversations From The Hoover Institution
26 Aug 2021 Leave a comment
in defence economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Afghanistan, war against terror
Note for sleepy @JoeBiden
21 Aug 2021 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: Afghanistan, war against terror
How Taliban Expanded in Afghanistan During America’s Longest War
10 Aug 2021 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: Afghanistan, war against terror
Obama is worse than George Bush and Tony Blair says Noam Chomsky 2011!
15 Dec 2019 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Afghanistan, Israel, war against terror, West Bank
Feature History – Soviet-Afghan War
15 Dec 2018 Leave a comment
in defence economics, development economics, economic history, growth disasters, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Afghanistan
How the US failed to rebuild Afghanistan
07 Oct 2018 Leave a comment
in defence economics, development economics, growth disasters, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Afghanistan, Taliban, war against terror
Charlie Wilson’s War bonus clip – Tom Hanks Who is Charlie Wilson?
25 Mar 2018 Leave a comment
in defence economics, movies, war and peace Tags: Afghanistan, Cold War
So @NZGreens support Gulf wars 1 & 2?! The punitive mission to Afghanistan?
08 Apr 2017 Leave a comment
in defence economics, International law, politics - USA Tags: Afghanistan, Gulf war, New Zealand Greens, Syria civil war, war against terror
The first Gulf War had UN security council approval. The 2nd Gulf War was approved in a way that provided employment to legal pedants and more importantly, just enough political cover for the Chinese and Russians back home and with their low-rent allies to avoid their veto.
The New Zealand Greens cannot go on about multinational responses than oppose wars with UN security council approval.
Naturally, the Greens opposed NZ participation in the Afghanistan war despite its clear-cut UN authorisation. NATO and other mutual defence treaties were specifically triggered after 9/11.
The USA and others were and still are at war with Al-Qaeda; they can use force against that enemy and those who harbour them. The Taliban was warned. A Wiki has this nice quote by Stone (1921):
When the territorial sovereign is too weak or is unwilling to enforce respect for international law, a state which is wronged may find it necessary to invade the territory and to chastise the individuals who violate its rights and threaten its security.
The 9/11 terrorists were air pirates. NATO and allied military entered Afghanistan to subdue the home base of these brigands and those that harboured them:
- Naval and military deployments against pirate’s lairs date back thousands of years.
- The first war of the USA was with the Barbary Pirates in 1801 to 1805, with another war in 1815. These pirates waged war against the shipping of other nations, seized cargoes and ships, and sold captives into slavery.
- Punitive expeditions against bandits were commonplace too, such as chasing Pancho Villa and his gang of bandits back into Mexico in 1916.
- The U.S. military recently attacked a Somalian maritime pirate camp to rescue hostages. EU naval forces have also attacked these pirate lairs to destroy boats and supplies.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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