Afghan Lessons: Culture, Diplomacy, and Counterinsurgency

Table of Contents

vii Contents Foreword by Robert Cooper ix Preface xi 1 How I Ended Up in Afghanistan, February–July 2008 1 2 Signals, 1968, 1979, 2001, 2007 5 3 Dubai, Terminal 2, July 13, 2008 8 4 Kabul 13 5 A Small Travel Library, I 18 6 The First Steps 23 7 “What? They’ve Surrounded Kabul?” 30 8 Winning 33 9 The Neo-Taliban 36 10 A Word of Advice from a Princess 41 11 “The Insubstantial State” 44 12 Arg 49 13 Civilian Casualties, I 53 14 What There Was, What There Should Have Been 58 15 To Coordinate—or to Be Coordinated 62 16 A Small Travel Library, II 69 17 ISAF 72 18 Khyber, 1842, 1878, 1919, 1928 78 19 Indian Holiday 82 00-2423-0 fm.indd 7 6/3/13 1:48 PM viii Contents 20 Snow 84 21 Clear, Hold, and Build 88 22 Civilian Casualties, II 90 23 Obama and Af-Pak, March 29, 2009 93 24 Awkward Neighbors 97 25 A Small Travel Library, III 103 26 A Dream 107 27 Karzai 110 28 Bird’s-Eye Views 114 29 Kandahar 117 30 COIN—The Counterinsurgency Manual 121 31 Civilian Casualties, III 126 32 Shia Family Law 128 33 Women 131 34 A Small Travel Library, IV 138 35 Death in August 141 36 The Presidential Elections 145 37 A Way to Reconciliation 150 38 The Future of Af-Pak 153 39 Leaving Kabul, February 2010 158 Epilogue 161 Bibliography 165 Index 169 00-2423-0 fm.indd 8 6/3/13 1:48 PM ...