HIST+484+Mid-Term

Add for next time I teach this course

AFGHANISTAN

Afghan civil war period Warlords still around That one who returned recently

Taliban territory: Life in Afghanistan under the militants http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40171379

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulbuddin_Hekmatyar

Gulbudin (Gulbodin Hekmatyar) Afghanistan 1993 The Civil War Archives Flashback http://youtu.be/EQs1Z0db-EQ

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Afghan Warlord, Returns to City He Left in Ruins https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/world/asia/afghan-warlord-returns-to-city-he-left-in-ruins- with-hope-for-peace.html?_r=0

Afghan warlord Hekmatyar returns to Kabul after peace deal http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39802833

Inside The Taliban [National Geographic] http://youtu.be/f4cVVuSi2fI

Sebastian Junger Afghanistan Revealed Ahmad Shah Massoud and the Northern alliance "RESTREPO" http://youtu.be/i56RbReMvsU

Afghan Civil War (1989–92) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989%E2%80%9392)

Afghan Civil War (1992–96) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1992%E2%80%9396)

Afghan Civil War (1996–2001) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1996%E2%80%932001)


 * Iranian Revolution**

Iran history timeline [read up to 1988] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14542438

Shah of Iran flees into exile http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/16/newsid_2530000/2530475.stm

Video: Iranian Revolution documentary http://youtu.be/aQhgsgD7WLQ

The Age of Unsatisfying Wars - NYTimes.com John Nagl []

At West Point, Asking if a War Doctrine Was Worth It - NYTimes.com http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/28/world/at-west-point-asking-if-a-war-doctrine-was-worth-it.html?_r=2&hpw&pagewanted=all

James Mann (Rise of the Vulcans) []


 * Soviet Union in Afghanistan**

Timeline: Soviet war in Afghanistan (BBC News) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7883532.stm

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the US response https://history.state.gov/milestones/1977-1980/soviet-invasion-afghanistan

Video: Soldiers of God (CNN Cold War) (46 minutes) []


 * Taliban**

a. Who are the Taliban?" (FRONTLINE) http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/afghanistan604/who.html

Read the introductory screen and then hover over each of the following tabs under "A Timeline to Power"

The Taliban Emerge (1994) The Fall of Kandahar and Kabul (1996) New Order Under Sharia Law (1996 to 1998) Sanctions, Atrocities and Reprisals (1999 to 2001) Taliban In Retreat, Karzai on the Rise (2002 to 2005) The Taliban Are Back (2005) Afghanistan: A New Iraq? (2006) The Poppy Rises (2006 to 2007) A New Offensive (2007)

b. Who are the Taliban? (BBC News) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11451718

c. Afghanistan: Before and after the Taliban http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26747712


 * Evolution of Bush Doctrine**: Broad strokes summary

Even prior to his candidacy for the Presidency As he began his tutorials Cheney as his VP running mate Once he became President on 20 January 2001

Cheney in charge of transition; planting fellow neo-cons in key places Paths To Power - Nixon Administration | Rumsfeld's War []

Powell as Secretary of State; seemingly going to be the powerful one Might influence military policy as well

Condoleezza Rice as National Security Council (NSC) advisor

Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense; his long alliance with Cheney

Prior to 9/11, it was still unclear what Bush's policies would be

9/11 changed the playing field

Role of George Tenet and the CIA in Afghanistan


 * Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)**

The Iran-Iraq War (25 years later) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4260420.stm

The beauty and the horror of the Iran-Iraq war http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34353349

Legacy of the Iran-Iran war lives on http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34444337


 * Gulf War**

Iraq invades Kuwait (1990) http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/2/newsid_2526000/2526937.stm

The Gulf War (1991) https://history.state.gov/milestones/1989-1992/gulf-war

Video: Gulf War (20th Century Battlefields) http://youtu.be/HMV_0iTk1qs


 * US invasion of Afghanistan**

U.S. Army Captain Jason Amerine | Campaign Against Terror | FRONTLINE [He was the A-Team leader who made sure Hamid Karzai stayed alive} http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/campaign/interviews/amerine.html

U.S. attack on Afghanistan http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/21/world/nation-challenged-battlefield-conduct-war-redefined-success-special-forces.html?pagewanted=all

What will Trump do about Afghanistan? http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38730061


 * US military operations in Afghanistan**

Battle Company is Out There (Korengal Valley) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/magazine/24afghanistan-t.html?pagewanted=all

U.S. retreat from Afghan valley marks recognition of blunder (Korengal Valley) Read each of the 4 pages of the article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/14/AR2010041401012.html

Video: The War Briefing (56:06) 2008 Korengal Valley http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/warbriefing/ Transcript http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warbriefing/etc/script.html


 * US military approach in Afghanistan**

Counter-insurgency (COIN) versus counter-terrorism (CT)

a. Who is/was our main enemy: Taliban 1. Our war aims sort of got mixed up between [initially] going after Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda with the continuous conflict against the Taliban insurgency. 2. Taliban: natives to Afghanistan>>>>Counter-Insurgency (COIN) 3. Al Qaeda (foreign fighters)>>>>Counter-terrorism (CT)

b. How has the US approached the war? We have flip-flopped on our approach:

c.. Counter-insurgency (COIN) [nation-building] to defeat the Taliban 1. But we limited ourselves to a "light footprint." 2. US Political issue of wanting to avoid NATION BUILDING

d. Counter-terrorism (CT) [to defeat Al Qaeda] 1. 2003 US invasion of Iraq 2. Light footprint got lighter after we got involved in Iraq; resources diverted to Iraq 3. Total number of US troops ultimately in both Afghanistan and Iraq [get that good graph]


 * Issues in the debate over how to proceed: COIN versus CT**

COIN: we have to work through the Afghan government. That has problems.

CT: we can do this through raids on high-value targets. That has problems, too.

Big unanswered questions: What is the nature of the current insurgency? Can the Afghan government defeat it?


 * Influence of Pakistan on the Afghan war**

Madrassas (Saudi Time Bomb FRONTLINE) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saudi/analyses/madrassas.html

"Even Where Pakistani Law Exists, Taliban Find a Porous Border" http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/world/asia/05baluch.html?hpw

Interview: Lt. Col. John Nagl (ret.) | Obama's War http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/obamaswar/interviews/nagl.html

Video: Return of the Taliban FRONTLINE 2006 (54:53) [a report about the Pakistan tribal areas] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/taliban/ Transcript http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/taliban/etc/script.html


 * Pakistan's role in the Afghan conflict**

In their own country: main enemy is India to the east.

They want a weak Afghanistan (one they can control) on their west.

Key to our war in Afghanistan: Pakistan provides a sanctuary for our enemy (Al Qaeda as well as Taliban).

Porous border (1,500 miles long) between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Some comparative examples: Length of Mexico-US border=1,950 miles Distance Boston to Miami=1,500 miles Distance Seattle-San Diego=1,250 miles

Three different aspects to this Pakistan issue:

a) Pakistan's choice after 9/11. Support US. But they have played off both ends against the middle since then. Is Pakistan an ally of the US or an enemy or both (frenemy)?

b) Pakistan as a sanctuary for the enemy. But nuances within this view.

c) What if US withdraws?

This is one part of the dilemma from Pakistan's point of view.


 * Current issues in Afghanistan**

Afghan Taliban reach is the widest since 2001, per United Nations report http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/12/world/asia/afghanistan-taliban-united-nations.html

Afghanistan's hidden Taliban government http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/07/world/asia/07taliban.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

The Women of Afghanistan (Photos) http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/09/the-women-of-the-afghanistan-war/100585/

Tasked with combating opium, Afghan officials profit from it http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/16/world/asia/afghanistan-opium-heroin-taliban-helmand.html?_r=2

The Karzai years: from hope to recrimination http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28257108

Afghanistan's new president, Ashraf Ghani http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27142426

The Afghan War and the Evolution of Obama http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/01/world/asia/obama-afghanistan-war.html?_r=1