Item Details
Skip Navigation Links
   ActiveUsers:1904Hits:20989445Skip Navigation Links
Show My Basket
Contact Us
IDSA Web Site
Ask Us
Today's News
HelpExpand Help
Advanced search

In Basket
  Journal Article   Journal Article
 

ID188333
Title ProperAfghanistan and the COIN conundrum
LanguageENG
AuthorMockaitis, Thomas R
Summary / Abstract (Note)America's longest war ended unceremoniously in August 2021 amid chaotic scenes of Afghan civilians storming the Kabul airport in a desperate effort to board a flight out of the country. The twenty-year war took the lives of 2,448 U.S. service members, 1,144 allied service members, 66,000 Afghan military and police, 3,846 U.S. contractors, 444 aid workers, 72 journalists, and 47,245 Afghan civilians as well as 51,191 Taliban and other insurgents.1 It cost the United States an estimated $2 trillion, billions of it spent on an Afghan army that collapsed in a matter of weeks.2 By any measure the mission was an utter failure bought at a terrible price in blood and treasure. While the current public argument focuses on assigning political blame, a more serious discussion has already begun. Debate rests on a broad fundamental question: Did failure result from mistakes made at crucial junctures during the campaign, or was the war unwinnable at a cost the United States could bear?
`In' analytical NoteSmall Wars and Insurgencies Vol. 33, No.7; Oct 2022: p.1085-1092
Journal SourceSmall Wars and Insurgencies Vol: 33 No 7
Key WordsAfghanistan ;  COIN conundrum


 
 
Media / Other Links  Full Text