Chuck Spinney: Syria, Rebels, Complexity and Foreign (Uninformed) Meddling….Hark Back to Viet-Nam, Central America, Afghanistan….

According the attached report in the 3 October issue of the New York Times, defections from Assad’s army to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have slowed to a trickle. No major units have defected. The FSA has resulted to trickery and coercion to gain recruits, including drugging and kidnapping. Moreover, rebel tactics, like suicide bombing …

NIGHTWATCH: Failure of Strategic Integrity in USA Kills Troops in Afghanistan

Afghanistan-NATO: The withdrawal of Western forces from Afghanistan could come sooner than expected, according to NATO Secretary General Rasmussen. He conceded that the recent Taliban strategy of ‘green on blue’ killings had been successful in sapping NATO morale. In an interview with The Guardian Rasmussen acknowledged he felt pressure for a faster withdrawal from Afghanistan …

DefDog: The Truth About Afghanistan – A Book, “No Worse Enemy”

Author Q&A Afghanistan: “It’s Just Damage Limitation Now” Briton Ben Anderson is a documentary filmmaker (the BBC, HBO, the Discovery Channel), but he turns to the written word in No Worse Enemy: The Inside Story of the Chaotic Struggle for Afghanistan. The book offers a gritty – and grim — assessment of the war. Anderson …

NIGHTWATCH: Afghanistan – One Attack, $150 Million in Losses

Attack on Camp Bastion: The Taliban strike on Camp Bastion in Helmand Province destroyed more than $150 million worth of planes and equipment, Western officials said on 16 September. Military officials said the insurgents destroyed six AV-8B Harrier jets and three refueling stations. Two other Harrier aircraft and six soft-skin aircraft hangars were significantly damaged …

NIGHTWATCH: Afghanistan Truth Check – Still Hosed

Afghanistan: Special comment: This week Coalition forces commander General Allen said that only ten of Afghanistan’s now 405 districts, in 34 provinces, are responsible for half of the violence in Afghanistan. They are Sangin, Nowzad, Musa Qala, Kajaki, Nad e Ali, Nahr e Sarraj in Sangin Province plus Pol-e-Alam in Lowgar Province and Maiwand, Panjwai …

Allen Roland: The Moon is Down in Afghanistan – Agony, Cognitive Dissonance, & Here in the USA 18 Veteran Suicides, Day After Day After Day…

The Moon is Down in Afghanistan, Flies Have Conquered Flypaper The continuation of attacks on US soldiers by uniformed Afghan soldiers and policemen is an expression of popular hatred for the occupation regime and military invasion forces which brings to mind John Steinbeck’s classic novel The Moon Is Down. Steinbeck fully captures the inner agony, …

Berto Jongman: Wikileaks, Open Data, Big Data, & Predicting Violence in Afghanistan

Computer forecasting matched rises, ebbs in Afghanistan violence Phys.Org, July 17, 2012 By Jon Bardin In August 2010, shortly after WikiLeaks released tens of thousands of classified documents that cataloged the harsh realities of the war in Afghanistan, a group of friends – all computer experts – gathered at the New York City headquarters of …