On being Hamid Karzai

Robert Haddick of Small Wars Journal has a provocative piece online that’s summed up in this sub-head: “Note to the White House: You don't own Karzai -- he owns you.” With each escalation of American forces, Mr. Haddick argues, the Afghan president has a firmer grip on Mr. Obama’s testicles. The essay concludes: “the United States is fighting in Afghanistan not against terrorism but for its reputation, for its ability to convince the wider world that it is in control of its affairs and that its power can achieve challenging goals. But this means that the world audience, and not the U.S. president, will decide for itself whether it is convinced about the efficacy of American power.” Which was pretty much the case in Vietnam forty years ago. Blue skies! – Dan Ford

If you can't beat them ...

Say what you like about Hamid Karzai, but you can’t call him an American puppet. On Saturday, we’re told, he said to members of the Afghan parliament: “If you and the international community pressure me more, I swear that I am going to join the Taliban.” (The quote appears in the ninth paragraph of one of those Gray Lady “analyses” that are really editorials in disguise. This one beats the old drum that if only we get rid of the incumbent, everything will be fine.... Right! We had great success with that in South Vietnam!)

No doubt Mr. Karzai is playing the Cold War game of increasing American aid by threatening to cozy up to the enemy. (Alternately, he may have noticed the weird tendency of this administration to apologize to its enemies while pulling the rug from under its friends.) But his threat ought to be taken seriously: at a certain point, joining the Taliban is exactly what the West must consider doing: “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!”

As it happens, my favorite military theorist made just that argument in his Patterns of Conflict briefing of 1986. The object of a counter-insurgency campaign, he begins, is to “Undermine guerrilla cause and destroy their cohesion by demonstrating integrity and competence of government to represent and serve needs of people—rather than exploit and impoverish them for the benefit of a greedy elite.” That is: we must prove that we represent the good guys. To which he adds a sly footnote: “If you cannot realize such a political program, you might consider changing sides!”

Blue skies! – Dan Ford

The Only Thing Worth Dying For III

I don’t usually get a whole lot of comments on this blog, so I think it’s worth noting what readers have been saying about this wonderful book: The Only Thing Worth Dying For. It tells the story of about the Green Berets who inserted Hamid Karzai into Afghanistan in November 2001. (That’s Mr. Karzai with the blanket wrapped around his shoulders, posing with the Special Forces A Team—or Operational Detachment Alpha, as it’s now called.)

Anonymous said: Thanks for spreading the word about this book!

Anonymous said: Amazing book. I'm surprised I hadn't heard more about it. Probably the best book I read about Afghanistan.

forrest said: An absolute MUST-READ for anyone interested in the modern style of warfare laughably called 'low-intensity conflict' and the US role in that warfare. As enthralling as I foudn the story, however, I found myself wishing Amerine himself had written the book and not a professional writer because it was a little too slick and seamless for me.

When I was a Special Forces reservist, I had my own experience in Afghanistan 13 years before ODA574 and it was interesting to me that Capt Amerine found the mujahidin to be pretty much the same as I had, meaning their approach to fighting hasn't changed sicne the late, great British Empire thought it could conquer and administer that amazing land.

As to the question the title of Blehm's book asks, the answer is found in the song "How Many Are The Heroes" which asks "And if freedom's not worth dyin', what the hell are you livin' for?" Captain Amerine, I'd like to shake your hand someday; you, too, found something in Afghanistan worth dying for-- yourself.

And DaveHays said: Best book ever on the war on terror or afganistan. Tells a great story of what it take to be an officer in todays military. I felt like I knew the guys in the ODA well before the middle of the book. This is a must read for anyone interested in the war, current tactics or just reading about the best of our best. I'm reading mine for the 2nd time.

Blue skies! -- Dan Ford