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Briefing Book: Afghanistan BRIEFING BOOK: AFGHANISTAN In the midst of the deadliest month ever for NATO forces in Afghanistan, should we pull our troops out? Does our presence there help or hurt our interests in Pakistan? Watch to find out the strikingly different views of two experts. WATCH HERE David Kilcullen David Kilcullen is a counterinsurgency and counterterrorism expert working with the US State Department. He is also an advisor to the UK, Australia, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and several private sector institutions, on counter- terrorism and counter-insurgency issues which he has written extensively on. Dr. Kilcullen has served in counterinsurgency and guerilla warfare campaigns and peacekeeping operations in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Horn of Africa and Southeast Asia. In 2007 he served closely under General Petraeus in Iraq as Senior Counterinsurgency Adviser, Multi-National Force - Iraq, and was responsible for planning and executing the 2007-2008 Joint Campaign Plan. His work focuses on many aspects of counterinsurgency and strategy. He is also a strong proponent of a conflict ethnography approach which seeks to address cultural and linguistic understanding of the conflict environment and uphold moral obligations to the civilians in conflict areas. His book is entitled The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One. Andrew Bacevich Dr. Andrew Bacevich is a well-known author and professor of International Relations and History at Boston University. He is a graduate of the U. S. Military Academy and received his Ph.D. in American Diplomatic History from Princeton University. Dr. Bacevich is an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq and is the author of numerous essays and books. His essays and reviews have appeared in a wide variety of scholarly and general interest publications including The Wilson Quarterly, The National Interest, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Nation, The American Conservative, and The New Republic. His opinion pieces have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today, among other newspapers. He was awarded a Berlin Prize Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin and has been a fellow of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. His most recent book is entitled The Limits of Power: American Exceptionalism. BRIEFING BOOK: AFGHANISTAN "The War in Afganistan: Hold your nerve" Economist, July 16, 2009 "Even the Coalition commanders in Afghanistan wonder if they can win the war" Newsweek “Fresh drone attacks in Pakistan reignite debate” Christian Science Monitor “Cruel human toll of fight to win Afghan peace” The Guardian, UK Small Wars Journal David Kilcullen’s Blog “Andrew Bacevich Asks Congress If We Can Afford the “Long War” Rethink Afghanistan Blog, including video from C-Span "I Lost My Son to a War I Oppose. We Were Both Doing Our Duty." Andrew Bacevich, The Washington Post Click HERE for more information on The Accidental Guerilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One by David Kilcullen Click HERE for more information about The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism by Andrew Bacevich.
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