One Hundred Victories by Linda Robinson

1. In President Obama’s speech at West Point, he announced that 30,000 additional troops would be sent to Afghanistan. He made this decision because he said it was vital to the United States’ national interest. The vital national interest at risk in President Obama’s address is the security and safety of the American people as well as the “security of our allies and the common security of the world.” By involving the military and increasing the troop strength, President Obama can achieve the objectives of his strategy. His objectives are to keep the Taliban from becoming powerful, prevent them from government rule, improve Afghanistan security forces and government so they can manage their own country and prevent Al Qaeda from

Let the Circle be Unbroken portrays an african american family’s hardships against powerful white landowners and family tragedies. All in the perception of the strong-willed Cassie Logan. Let the Circle be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor is an enjoyable book with engaging characters, unpredictable plots, and an amusing genre.

In early January 2002, American intelligence received evidence of a large volume of enemy forces assembling in the Shahi Kot Valley in Eastern Afghanistan. Central Command (CENTCOM), led by General Tommy R. Franks, was directing combat operations in Afghanistan through the Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) and Coalition Forces Air Component Command (CFACC). As the interest in assaulting the Shahi Kot Valley amplified, General Franks reached a conclusion that a U.S. tactical commander was a need in Afghanistan. The decision was to assign the 10th Mountain Division Commander, Major General (MG) Franklin Hagenbeck, as the tactical commander. In an effort to strengthen MG Hagenbeck’s command authority, CENTCOM named his headquarters Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) Mountain and gave it command and control authority over Operation Anaconda. By having command and control authority, MG Hagenbeck would encounter challenges with the command structure. The challenges of command structure were due to CJTF Mountain not having tactical control (TACON) of multiple Special Operation Forces, the Joint Special Operations Air Component (JSOAC), and friendly Afghanistan forces. These misunderstandings were resolved during the execution phase, but rectifying the command relationships prior would have avoided lost time and resources needed on enemy forces and positions. In this paper, I will identify the challenges of command structure during Operation Anaconda.

Background information about the War in Afghanistan is absolutely necessary in order to discuss the withdrawal of United States ' troops from Afghanistan. The history intertwining the United States and Afghanistan is a long and complex chronology. For full transparency I

              Hope (noun): A feeling of trust; A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen

Each of David Galula’s “Laws of Counterinsurgency” are reflected in US Afghanistan Coin strategy. However, Galula’s first law; “the support of the population is as necessary for the counterinsurgent as for the insurgent,” is most strongly represented. In President Obama’s speech, he points out that securing key population centers is important.

Have you ever heard about poetry? Poetry is when you express your feelings and ideas by using a distinctive style and rhythm in a story. In my class we do poetry. Sometimes it can be difficult to understand. We also have to know how to read a poem because it is not like a story. What poems do you like? The poems I read were Winter by Nikki Giovanni, The Rider by Naomi Shihab Nye, and The Courage That My Mother Had by Edna St. Vincent Millary. These works are all very different from each other.

“Courage does not have to be constant, but I would like to see it become contagious” Women of Courage is a collection of twelve short biographies. The biographies are about courageous women in American history that are not well known or recognized.

John Dower’s Embracing Defeat is a thorough analysis of Japan’s aftermath of defeat, encompassing in great detail the culture and history of Japan following the end of World War II. Dower shows great interest in the impact of a critical unconditional surrender and the transformation of culture, economy, and policy that came with America’s military occupation and its unabashed democratizing agenda. Through the book, Dower “tried to capture a sense of what it meant to start over in a ruined world by recovering the voices of people at all levels of society.” (25) His passion for understanding the state of affairs in a postwar Japan is evident in the amount of rich detail he amassed in his book. Dower book first focuses on the socio-cultural history the first two years after the war, and then the reconstruction, democratic revolution, and political reform the occupation imposed on the nation. Japan during and shortly after World War II is usually viewed through the eyes of the conqueror. However, Dower explores the situation through the eyes of the Japanese, their experiences, responses, and dreams. In doing so, Dower shed’s novel insight in how Japan reconstructed itself through the ashes of defeat.

Afghanistan is unique in its military history due to the fact that it has never been successfully conquered or invaded, and the country has seemed to be in conflict consistently since before it was even established as Afghanistan. Different cultures and regimes have tried to lay claim to Afghanistan by conquering its terrain and people, but all attempts, thus far, have been unsuccessful. The following section of research will contain dated subsections briefly covering the military history of Afghanistan over the past 178 years.

The war that was conducted in Afghanistan against the US should prompt other nations that the purpose of war should have a political goal interest and should include military advice but ultimately should be decided by a charismatic civilian leader. “The war in Afghanistan has demonstrated that for all of the vaunted agility and resourcefulness of the U.S. armed forces, the risk of senior commanders' becoming intellectually arrogant and cognitively rigid is real. The COIN paradigm was applied with such unquestioning zeal that critical thought was often suspended.”( Eikenberry 2014). Furthermore, in any future counterinsurgency plan, the security of the citizens (with the help of the military) should be the underlying primary focus. In future counterinsurgent strategy there should be a military civilian plan, the military should find a way to assimilate the population in their security efforts as a way of reassurance. The replication of Provisional Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) can be implemented to strengthen any future COIN strategy. PRTs include both the population and military efforts to assist in rebuilding the nation. Moreover, counterinsurgency strategy should consider implementing isolating insurgent groups and conducting peace rallies or peace talks amongst the citizens. A final lesson

Counterinsurgency, well known as COIN, operations refers to an activity where the armed forces in collaboration with the civilian populous try to defend the legitimacy of existing government from internal insurgency (Paul, & Clarke, 2011). According to Field Manual 3-24, counterinsurgency is a deliberate and combined effort by both civilian and military to resist and probably defeat in any attempt of taking power by the insurgents. In this case, the effort may involve comprehensive war against the insurgents as well as attempts to solve the major cause of such insurgency by addressing key issues of concern (Defense Science Board Task Force on Defense Intelligence, 2011). By doing this, a counterinsurgency operation may yield positive results for the local and international community. The main aim is to protect the legitimate government from being over-thrown and to strengthen its rule within the territory. Consequently, innocent civilians also get an opportunity to help the COIN operation with necessary information among other resources that aid in defeating the insurgents hence restoring normalcy. COIN operations are not only done for the interest of the local community, but also the international community (Steger, 2011).

Afganistan is a terrotity which was a battleground between the great powers for centuries. Afganistan history is a war history since the 3rd Century when it was a part of Ashoka’s Maurayan Empire and becomes a buffer state between British and Russian empire by the end of the 19th Century. War culture produced a great warriors of history like Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni and Babur. Multiple civilisations influenced the diverse culture of Afganistan which is a potential cause of conflict in modern day Afganistan [1]. The focus of this article is the Afganistan under Jihadi rule.

Security Sector Reform (SSR) first emerged in the 1990s around Eastern Europe. SSR can help fix dysfunctional security sectors in countries emerging from years of internal warfare. The armed forces and police embrace a new mission of meeting the human security needs of their population. SSR targets all state institutions and ensures the security of the state and its people. Security Sector Reform is optional as well as a “normative concept.” Afghanistan is working on SSR and it is an ongoing struggle for the countries. The goal of SSR in the countries is to organize a way to achieve peace so that the people may not fear the armed soldiers and establish democratic control. Security Sector Reform contributes to sustainable peace in Afghanistan in many ways.

Since the fall of the Taliban and Al-Qaida in 2001 the United States and the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) have been fighting the Al-Qaida and the Taliban insurgents throughout Afghanistan. After 10 years of conflicts, war and deadly clashes between International community, Afghanistan government and the Taliban group today Afghanistan is entering into a new phase by taking security responsibilities from the US and International forces. One of the biggest problems in the history of Afghanistan will be the 2014 Withdrawal of US and International arm forces. The US and ISAF will withdraw around 147000 troops by end of 2014. It will affect Afghanistan in several ways from security to economic to political