Our Latest Longest War: Losing Hearts and Minds in Afghanistan

387 Pages·2017·2.753 MB·English

by  Aaron B. O'Connell (editor)

Our
Latest
Longest
War

O U R
L A T E S T
L O N G E S T
W A R
Losing Hearts
and Minds in
Afghanistan
Edited by
LIEUTENANT COLONEL
AARON B. O’CONNELL, USMC
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2017 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or
reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission, except in the case of brief quotations in critical
articles and reviews. For more information, contact the
University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL
60637.
Published 2017
Printed in the United States of America
26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 26565- 0 (cloth)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 26579- 7 (e- book)
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226265797.001.0001
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: O’Connell, Aaron B., 1973–
Title: Our latest longest war : losing hearts and minds in
Afghanistan / edited by Aaron B. O’Connell.
Description: Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago
Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016034770 | ISBN 9780226265650
(cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780226265797 (e- book)
Subjects: LCSH: Afghan War, 2001–
Classification: LCC DS371.412.O95 2017 | DDC 958.104/7—
dc23 LC record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov
/2016034770
♾ This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO
Z39.48- 1992 (Permanence of Paper).
Contents
Introduction Moving Mountains: Cultural Friction in the
Afghanistan War
Lieutenant Colonel Aaron B. O’Connell, USMC
1
Chapter One Washington Goes to War
Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann
41
Chapter Two US Strategy in Afghanistan: A Tragedy in Five Acts
Lieutenant Colonel Colin Jackson, USA
71
Chapter Three In Our Own Image: Training the Afghan National
Security Forces
Dr. Martin Loicano and Captain Craig C. Felker, USN
109
Chapter Four The Impact of Culture on Policing in Afghanistan
Captain Pashtoon Atif, ANP
131
Chapter Five Building and Undermining Legitimacy:
Reconstruction and Development in Afghanistan
Lieutenant Commander Jamie Lynn De Coster, USN
157
Chapter Six Rule of Law and Governance in Afghanistan,
2001– 2014
Colonel Abigail T. Linnington, USA, and
Lieutenant Colonel Rebecca D. Patterson, USA
189
Chapter Seven Liberalism Does Its Thing
Captain Aaron MacLean, USMC
213
Chapter Eight Organizing like the Enemy: Special Operations
Forces, Afghan Culture, and Village Stability
Operations
Lieutenant Commander Daniel R. Green, USN
245
Chapter Nine Leaving Afghanistan
Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin F. Jones, USAF
271
Conclusion Our Latest Longest War
Lieutenant Colonel Aaron B. O’Connell, USMC
299
Acknowledgments 319
List of Abbreviations 321
Notes 325
About the Contributors 375
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Moving Mountains
INTRODUCTION
cultural friction in the
afghanistan war
Lieutenant Colonel Aaron B.
O’Connell, USMC
There is a saying about the Prophet that most Americans know, even
if they know little about Islam: “If the mountain will not come to
Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain.”1 This old
adage— typically used to suggest that some things can’t be changed,
and that the wise person will bend to unmovable objects rather than
repeatedly attempting the impossible— is a metaphor rich with rele-
vance for America’s latest longest war. For years, it seems, the United
States and its partners strove to change things in Afghanistan that
are as permanent and insurmountable as the ancient peaks that have
determined so much of the country’s history and culture. Despite mas-
sive advantages in resources and technology, the effort to move moun-
tains in Afghanistan has not worked— both because of the nature of
Afghan society and because the United States has its own seemingly
permanent and insurmountable cultural qualities that condition how
the US military operates abroad and for what purposes.
This volume is a critical appraisal of America’s combat operations
in Afghanistan, known in military circles as Operation Enduring
Freedom, which began in October 2001 and ended in stalemate on
1