The New York Times published an Op-Ed Chart detailing several key aspects of the stability and growth of both the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts from 2005, 2007, and 2009. The numbers for Iraq are looking amazingly improved, where as Afghanistan is facing smaller scale, but troubling downturns.
All the Afghan indicators are on the rise except for the public’s view of Karzai’s government, which is trending downward. Civilian, Afghan military and police, and US/NATO troop casualties are all rising at the same time as the size of US and Afghan army increases. In 2005, US troops were rarely being killed (1 in February) and the Afghan military was facing minimal attacks (10 killed in February), but these numbers have edged upward. US combat deaths in February 2009 went from 1 to 15 and the Afghan army went from 10 to 75. The civilian deaths are even more alarming with a rise from 40 to 200 during the same period.
The two favorable markers included per capita income and the number of telephone subscribers, and these were modest gains. Per capita income went from $252 in 2005 to $400 this February and telephone subscribers rose from only 2.2 million to 7 million during the same period.
I urge you to look at these numbers. What do they tell you?
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
