Understanding the Taliban and insurgency in Afghanistan / Thomas H Johnson, M Chris Mason

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublication details: 2007Subject(s): In: Orbis Vol 51 No 1, Winter 2007, pp.71-89 (44)Summary: Argues that the Taliban is not simply a radical Afghan Islamist movement, but a force that has built on tribal kinships and a charismatic mullah phenomenon to mobilize a rural base of support with reinforcements from Pakistan's border areas. The Taliban are engaged in a classic "war of the flea" and the U.S. led counterinsurgency is fighting the largely according to the Taliban game plan. As a result the coalition is losing Afghanistan "one Pushtun village at a time". Argues that the United States must change its counterinsurgency strategy and put in extra resources especially for reconstruction. Failure to do so risks losing the war with potentially disastrous consequences for Afghanistan and the rest of the world.
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Item type Current library Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode
Journal Article Mindef Library & Info Centre Journals AFGHANISTAN (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Not for loan 21423-1001

Argues that the Taliban is not simply a radical Afghan Islamist movement, but a force that has built on tribal kinships and a charismatic mullah phenomenon to mobilize a rural base of support with reinforcements from Pakistan's border areas. The Taliban are engaged in a classic "war of the flea" and the U.S. led counterinsurgency is fighting the largely according to the Taliban game plan. As a result the coalition is losing Afghanistan "one Pushtun village at a time". Argues that the United States must change its counterinsurgency strategy and put in extra resources especially for reconstruction. Failure to do so risks losing the war with potentially disastrous consequences for Afghanistan and the rest of the world.

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