Peace Action West

Peace Action West does not endorse all viewpoints contained in the listed resources. Given the complexity of the issue, we feel it is important to offer a range of sources that examine critical aspects of our Afghanistan policy. Each one of the listed pieces contains valuable insights into rethinking the US's approach in Afghanistan.

From Peace Action West

The War in Afghanistan and Better Approaches to Ending Terrorism

Strategic Cooperation: Global Challenges, 21st Century Tools

Peace Action West offers background on the current strategy in Afghanistan and recommendations for the administration and Congress to pursue a new approach that emphasizes humanitarian aid, development, diplomacy, and historically successful but underfunded civilian counterterrorism tools. Read more.

Reports

How Terrorist Groups End: Lessons for Countering al Qa'ida
Seth Jones & Martin Libicki, RAND Corporation

Seth Jones and Martin Libicki conducted a comprehensive review of terrorist activity since 1968 and determined that only 7% of terrorist groups that ended were defeated through military force.  Policing and intelligence and drawing groups into the political process were far more effective. The report includes case studies and applies the lessons learned to offer recommendations for the US's current strategy for countering al Qaeda. Read more.

Smart Development in Practice: Field Report from Afghanistan Oxfam International Oxfam offers helpful guidelines for effective development in Afghanistan based on interviews with 40 people with on the ground experience. http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/field-report-from-afghanistan

Quick Impact, Quick Collapse: The Dangers of Militarized Aid in Afghanistan Eight nongovernmental organization examine the dangers of delivering aid in Afghanistan through the military and make recommendations for more effective development in Afghanistan. http://www.oxfam.org/en/policy/quick-impact-quick-collapse

Troops in Contact: Airstrikes and Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan
Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch offers recommendations to reduce civilian casualties from airstrikes in Afghanistan, and presents evidence of problematic and unnecessary civilian deaths that could violate international law.  They also note that most civilians die not in planned bombings but in "Troops in Contact" situations, in which ground troops call in air support while engaged with insurgents. This evidence raises questions about the argument made by some proponents of the escalation in Afghanistan that increasing troops will mean fewer civilian casualties. Read more.

Losing the People: The Costs and Consequences of Civilian Suffering in Afghanistan
Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict

Using extensive interviews with Afghan civilians, CIVIC explores the impact of deaths, injuries, loss of property and displacement on the civilian population of Afghanistan, and puts a human face on the devastation caused by the occupation. The report also examines various programs for distributing compensation and aid to those affected by the military presence, to stem growing resentment within the Afghan population and improve the lives of civilians. Read more (.pdf).

Focus and Exit: An Alternative Strategy for the Afghan War
Gilles Dorronsoro, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Dorronsoro, an expert on Afghanistan, Turkey and South Asia, offers an alternative strategy for Afghanistan based on reconciling objectives in Afghanistan with available resources. He advocates focusing on leaving an Afghan government that can survive a US withdrawal, due to the military presence's role in inflaming the insurgency and the room it would allow to focus on instability in Pakistan. Read more.

Afghanistan: Ending a Failed Military Strategy
September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows

Founded by family members of those killed in the 9/11 attack, September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows produced a primer featuring ten reasons to end the occupation of Afghanistan and promoting a strategy based on diplomacy, aid and reconstruction. Read more.

Policy Brief: Civil Society Perspectives on US Policy in Afghanistan
3D Security Initiative

3D Security Initiative consulted with civil society leaders in Afghanistan to offer this brief advocating a shift in military strategy and an increased emphasis on democracy, diplomacy and development. Read more.

Articles

Ambassador Eikenberry's Cables on U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry, who previously served two tours of duty as a military officer in Afghanistan, wrote these secret cables to the State Department outlining concerns about sending an additional 30,000 troops. He laid out problems with the Karzai government and advocated alternatives such as investments in development that could have more impact than intensifying the military strategy. http://documents.nytimes.com/eikenberry-s-memos-on-the-strategy-in-afghanistan#p=1

U.S. Official Resigns Over Afghan War Karen DeYoung, the Washington Post Matthew Hoh, a former Marine Corps captain and then foreign service officer in Afghanistan, resigned in September of 2009 because he had lost confidence in the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. Read his four-page resignation letter for a strong argument about why the U.S. is on the wrong path in Afghanistan. read more.

The risks of the C.I.A.'s Predator drones Jane Mayer, The New Yorker

Jane Mayer looks at the implications of the CIA's secret drone program for international law and the future of combat. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/26/091026fa_fact_mayer

From Great Game to Grand Bargain: Ending Chaos in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Barnett Rubin and Ahmed Rashid, Foreign Affairs

Rubin and Rashid stress the importance of regional diplomacy in bringing stability to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Read more.

Fallout will hit Obama's Afghan Plan
Maleeha Lodhi, The Independent

Lodhi, the former Pakistan ambassador to the US, calls for redefining US goals in Afghanistan and developing a new strategy that includes improving the relationship with Pakistan. Read more.

Counterinsurgency Field Manual: Afghanistan Edition
Nathaniel C. Fick and John A. Nagl, Foreign Policy

Fick and Nagl, who both served in the Middle East in the Marines and Army respectively, discuss elements of counterinsurgency strategy as applied to Afghanistan. Read more.

Helping Afghan Women and Girls
Katrina Vanden Heuvel, The Nation

Katrina Vanden Heuvel talks with Kavita Ramdas of the Global Fund for Women about how the military occupation of Afghanistan is damaging to women and girls, and what alternatives would be more helpful for women's rights. Read more.

Interview with Pierre Sprey and Marilyn Young (transcript)
Bill Moyers, Bill Moyers Journal

Sprey and Young discuss the negative impacts of bombings in Pakistan and Afghanistan and how they undermine US goals. Read more.

The War Briefing
Frontline, PBS

A comprehensive guide to issues surrounding the war in Afghanistan, including videos of an hour-long Frontline special. Read more.

Interview with Rory Stewart Lynn Sherr, Bill Moyers Journal

Rory Stewart traveled across Afghanistan on foot in 2002, shortly after the US invasion. He talks about his attempts to advise the Obama administration and the need to be realistic about what the US can accomplish in Afghanistan. read more.