Afghan War Blog

Friday, April 3, 2015

Afghan News Snippets (Apr 3, 2015)

Khost Suicide Blast Kills 16 or more. Reports say that a suicide attack against an anti-corruption protest killed at least 16 and wounded around 40 in Khost province. An MP from Khost province was wounded in the explosion. The acting governor of Khost has been accused of land-grabbing (a common practice in Afghanistan) and rampant corruption (also a common practice among government officials). Civilian casualties have jumped by 22% in 2014.

Hope and Obstacles in Afghanistan. President Ghani's recent trip to the United States secured continued funding and a pause in the U.S. troop withdrawal. His visit also inspired some hope that Afghanistan can turn the corner; yet having hope won't fix the many obstacles in Afghanistan's path. Much work has to be done. Read "Tentative Hope, Continued Obstacles After Leaders' U.S. Trip", by Farishta Jalazai, Gandhara Blog, April 2, 2015.

China's Fiber-Optic Silk Road. One of the overlooked benefits of China's "New Silk Road" initiative (which involved connecting China with Central Asia and Afghanistan with rail and road LOCs) is the building of a fiber-optic regional network. The fiber-optic cable (1/10th the cost of satellite usage) can be laid alongside rail lines. This will benefit Afghanistan as well. Read more in "A Fiber-Optic Silk Road", by Nadege Rolland, The Diplomat, April 2, 2015.

Video - AMC Perspective on Afghanistan Retrograde. General Dennis Via, commanding general of Army Materiel Command provides an AMC perspective during the 2015 Global Force Symposium. (Posted by US Army TRADOC on YouTube.com on April 1, 2015, 30 mins).

https://youtu.be/7QocyaEk5GE

SIGAR Questions USAID's PROMOTE Project. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is spending lots of money on the Promoting Gender Equity in National Priority Programs (Promote) project. This project is committed to provide support for Afghan women. However, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) office is concerned that USAID will not be able to effectively implement, monitor and assess the impact of Promote. Read a SIGAR letter (March 27, 2015) to USAID expressing its concerns and requesting additional information.

www.sigar.mil/pdf/special%20projects/SIGAR-15-44-SP.pdf

Expensive Wedding Cap. Afghan lawmakers have passed a law limiting the costs for weddings. The cap is now at $3,500. Over the past ten years the cost of weddings have grown significantly and become a huge social problem and a burden for families. The law caps the number of wedding guests to 500 and the cost per head at 400 afghanis (which is about $7 U.S.). (NBC News, April 1, 2015).

Guest Bloggers Wanted

The Afghan War News Blog and the Afghan War News website are constantly striving to keep its blog, daily newsletter, and website factual, current, and relevant. If you have a link to a website or document you feel should be shared with the greater community then please send it to us. In addition, we are looking for individuals with some knowledge, experience, and expertise in Afghanistan on a wide range of topics to contribute blog posts and articles to our blog and add content to our website. If you wrote a paper on a relevant topic and would like to share it send it to us for posting on the blog and website. And naturally, if you see errors, outdated information, or broken links please let us know.

staff@afghanwarnews.info

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Thursday, April 2, 2015

SIGAR Report on DoD Contracts for Afghanistan

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) released a report looking at the Department of Defense's contracts for Afghanistan reconstruction funding. The report notes that DoD contracts for Afghanistan reconstruction comprised $21 billion (out of $66 billion appropriated to DoD) through the award of 18,962 contracts to 2,542 vendors. The Afghan Security Forces Fund (ASFF) accounted for $17.3 billion in contracts. The Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP) accounted for $795 million in contracts. The Drug Interdiction and Counter-Drug Activities Fund (DoD CN) accounted for $1.8 billion in contracts. The top recipient of DoD CN contracts was Academi Training Center (formerly known as Blackwater). You can read the full report on SIGAR's website at the link below.

Department of Defense Spending on Afghanistan Reconstruction: 2002 - May 2014, SIGAR, March 2015. http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/special%20projects/SIGAR-15-40-SP.pdf

Afghan War News Snippets (Apr 2, 2015)

Kabul Bank Case. President Ghani met with investigators of the Kabul Bank case as part of his commitments during his inauguration to finalize the country's largest corruption scandal. The Kabul Bank, once the country's largest institution, collapsed in 2010 due to corruption - much in part by the Karzai family.(Tolo News, 31 Mar 15).

Fighting in Helmand Gets Bloodier. The northern Helmand province area is seeing an upsurge in casualties as Afghan forces take the lead. (The Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2015, requires login).

10 Most Dangerous Countries in the World. Afghanistan made the list and is ranked fifth. Other countries include Nigeria, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Egypt, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine. (Radio Free Europe, April 1, 2015).

Taliban and Hezb-i-Islami Fight Each Other in Maidan Wardak. The Taliban and another insurgent group continue to fight each other in Wardak province. So there is a three-way fight going on there - The ANSF, Taliban, and Hezb-i-Islami. (Khaama Press, Apr 1, 2015).

11 Passengers Kidnapped Sari-e-Pul. Passengers were kidnapped in Sari Pul. Looks like this is an ongoing event at least once a week across Afghanistan.

Ghani. One writer says things are different with Afghanistan. He wants us to "Give Ghani a Chance". The RAND Blog, March 31, 2015.

Females & Ranger School. Six more women qualified to attend Ranger School by passing the March rotation of the Ranger Training Assessment Course at Fort Benning, Georgia. That brings the number of women qualified to attend the 60-day course to 12 total. (Army Times, April 1, 2015).

Turkmenistan-Afghan Border History. Do you ever wonder why Afghanistan's border with Turkmenistan looks so odd? Read "How the British and the Russians Drew the Afghan-Turkmen Border", by Akhilesh Pillalamarri, The Diplomat, March 31, 2015.

U.S. Vision for Central Asia. Antony J. Blinken, Deputy Secretary of State, addressed the Brookings Institute on March 31, 2015 and the topic was on Central Asia and how it relates to security in Afghanistan.

New Focus on Central Asia By U.S. Joshua Kurcera writes in The Bug Pit of Eurasia.net that Washington has rolled out a new Central Asia policy with a focus on counterterrorism. (April 1, 2015).

What's Next for Central Asia? Richard E. Hoagland, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs of the State Department, addressed a gathering at Georgetown University on March 30, 2015. Topic was Central Asia.

ISIL in Central Asia. Silk Road Reporters published a post by Joe Peerson on April 1, 2015 entitled "ISIL in Central Asia - Swiftly Becoming a Reality".

Blackwater and Afghan Drugs. An article in Fortress America says that the paramilitary firm "Blackwater Is Still Getting Rich Screwing Up Our War on Afghan Drugs". (March 31, 2015).

Relying on Pakistan. The Huffington Post has an article that says securing Afghanistan means relying on the Pakistani Army. (March 31, 2015).

Taliban Commander Captured. The NDA captured a senior Taliban commander who is involved in targeting foreigners in Kabul. (The Long War Journal, Mar 31, 2015).

IED Analysis Course. ANA soldiers have recently graduated from the "Improvised Explosive Device Analysis Course". The ten-day long course is intended to help the ANA students build on their existing intelligence analysis skills to assist them in countering IEDs. IEDs are the number one cause of casualties for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. Learn more about this IED course in "Afghans learn to analyze IED threat", RS News, April 1, 2015.

Customs Revenue Increases. The Ministry of Finance announced a four percent increase in government financial income in the first quarter of this year. (Khaama Press, April 1, 2015).

$400,000 Helmet. An infantryman's kevlar helmet costs a few hundred dollars but the helmet that an F-35 pilot wears is much more expensive. Read "Meet the most fascinating part of the F-35: The $400,000 helmet", The Washington Post, April 1, 2015.

Resistance to DCGS-A Persists. The Army's main intelligence gathering component, the Distributed Common Ground System, continues to face criticism among lawmakers and members of the military. The DCGS will eventually cost the military over $10 billion. (GCN, March 31, 2015).

Parliamentary Election Postponed? Second Vice-President Sarwar Danish revealed on Wednesday that the parliamentary election will be postponed and held in 2016. (Khaama Press, April 1, 2015).

More on Ghani. Dr. Harland K. Ullman writes about President Ghani in an article entitled "Winston Spencer Ghani", The Huffington Post Politics Blog, March 31, 2015.

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Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Resolute Support Bibliography (April 2015)

Afghan War News has posted an update of the "Resolute Support Annotated Bibliography" (April 2015) on its website. The bibliography is an Adobe Acrobat PDF with over 200 pages filled with links to websites, documents, and publications about the Resolute Support Mission, Security Force Assistance, Advising, and Afghanistan. It will be extremely helpful to the advisor and staff working at the corps, zone, institutional, or ministerial level in Afghanistan. It is also a good reference for those conducting research or pre-deployment training for Afghanistan. You can view or download the publication at the link below.

www.afghanwarnews.info/pubs/RSM-Bibliography.htm

DoDIG Report on "Train, Advise, Assist, and Equip"

The Department of Defense Inspector General (Do DIG) office has issued a report about the Security Force Assistance mission in Afghanistan and Iraq. The reports overall objective was to provide DoD military commanders and other stakeholders responsible for Operation Inherent Resolve a summary of lessons learned gleaned from DoD IG assessment oversight of U.S. and Coalition "Train, Advise, Assist, and Equip" efforts during Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. The DoD IG reviewed 30 assessment reports issued by the DoD IG between July 2008 and January 2015. These reports contained 342 observations related to U.S. and Coalition efforts to develop the national security forces of Iraq and Afghanistan. In this summary project the authors sought lessons learned that might apply to future contingency operations as well as to Operation Inherent Resolve. The report identifies five systemic challenge and problem areas, with related lessons learned.

Training and Equipping of Partner Nation Security Forces and Ministries
Advisory Assistance in Support of Partner Nation Security Forces and Ministries
Logistics Development and Sustainment
Accountability and Control of U.S.-Supplied Equipment
U.S. Contract Management

Summary of Lessons Learned - DoD IG Assessment Oversight of "Train, Advise, Assist, and Equip" Operations by U.S. and Coalition Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan
Report No. DODIG-2015-093
March 31, 2015

http://www.dodig.mil/pubs/documents/DODIG-2015-093.pdf

Article - What I Learned from ANSF

Carl Forsling, in an article about his time spent with a battalion of the Afghan Border Police (ABP), writes about what he learned from the Afghan security forces. In Everything I Really Need to Know I learned from Afghan Security Forces, Task & Purpose, March 31, 2015 he makes the following observations.

There is such a thing as too much planning
Risk is part of war
Speed and mobility can be force protection
Minimize logistical requirements
Aggressiveness can make up for a lack of skill
Don't be afraid to leave a subordinate in charge
Uneducated does not mean stupid
No better friend. No worse enemy
Always make time for tea

Afghan News Snippets (Apr 1, 2015)

Haqqani Network to Return to Home Base in Pakistan. Nearly 1 million civilians were forced from their homes in northwestern Pakistan as the result of a Pakistan military offensive over the past several months. These civilians are now able to return to their homes. Among those returning civilians will be thousands of Haqqani Network fighters who also fled their sanctuaries to avoid the fighting. Observers are contemplating how the return of the Haqqani Network to their home base will affect the recent thaw in Pakistan - Afghan relations. Read more in "Dangerous Afghan Taliban Network Prepares Return to Pakistan Sanctuary", Gandhara Blog, March 31, 2015.

Citizens Say Sar-e-Pul Districts Controlled by Taliban. Residents and local officials say that several districts of Sar-e-Pul province are on the verge of falling to the Taliban and other groups that oppose the central government. Reports indicated that some police in these districts have not been paid for four months. Read "Concerns Raised as Sar-e-Pul Districts on Verge of Collapse", Tolo News, March 30, 2015.

Afghans Demand Elected Mayors. Although the Afghan constitution has a provision requiring mayors to be elected in local elections - most of the mayors are appointed by the Ministry of Interior (MoI). Those appointments are generally made as a result of corruption, nepotism, or personal connections - less frequently are appointments based on qualifications or merit. Read more in an article entitled "Afghans Demand Elected Mayors", Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), March 31, 2015.

"Rare Moment of Hope". Jonah Blank, a senior political scientist at RAND Corporation and former U.S. official who handled Afghan issues, gives us his reasons for optimism when it comes to the future of Afghanistan under President Ghani's watch. Read "Give Ghani a Chance: Why this time is different", The RAND Blog, March 31, 2015.

Women in Peacekeeping. As peacekeeping has evolved to encompass a broader humanitarian approach, women have become increasingly part of the peacekeeping family. Women are now deployed in all areas of peacekeeping as members of police, military, and civilian entities. They are key in supporting the role of women in building peace and protecting women's rights. Learn more about women in peacekeeping from this online article by the United Nations.
www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/issues/women/womeninpk.shtml

DoDIG Report on GIRoA Controls over Contract Management. This Department of Defense Inspector General report found that the government of Afghanistan's Ministries of Defense and Interior did not have effective controls over the contract management process for U.S. direct assistance funding provided to sustain the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). The Ministry of Finance (MoF) was also found to be at fault. The report also found that ". . . CSTC-A did not hold the ministries accountable for not instituting the necessary controls over the contract management process and did not enforce the requirements within the commitment letters". The report recommends that CSTC-A use the ministerial advisory contract to place subject matter experts within the ministries to develop and increase the capacity of MoI and MoD to manage contracts appropriately. Read the report, DODIG-2015-082 dated February 26, 2015.
www.dodig.mil/pubs/report_summary.cfm?id=6269

ProPublica. An independent, non-profit newsroom that does investigative journalism in the public interest is looking for input on fraud and abuse of U.S. dollars in Afghanistan. ProPublica wants YOU to get involved. Read more at "Help ProPublica Investigate".

USASOC Video on "ARSOF Next". The United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) presents a 30-minute long video on what the future of Army Special Operations looks like. Key concepts include adaptability, autonomy, empathy, and expertise. Attributes of the Special Forces Soldier are discussed. Video posted on YouTube.com on March 31, 2015.
https://youtu.be/vC99Apc5ijc

AWG to Stay. The Asymmetric Warfare Group (AWG) will be staying on but at a reduced level. It will become part of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). AWG brings back lessons learned from around the globe and they had a big role in Afghanistan in advising in the field and providing lessons learned as well. Currently AWG is studying new threats and devising immediate materiel and doctrinal answers. (Defense News, March 31, 2015).

Afghan Women Mountain Climbers. Afghanistan has lots of high mountains. Anyone who has had the opportunity to fly over or drive through the Hindu Kush knows this for sure. As a former mountain climber / rock climber I was struck by the many climbing locations and often wondering if anyone had climbed this particular mountain or that rock face - ever. Mountain climbing in Afghanistan is not a very well developed sport and it certainly is not one where Afghan women participate. Yet there is a budding group of Afghan women who aim high. Ascend is an organization that helps Afghan women to become mountain climbers. Read more on this topic in "The Ascent of Afghan Women", by Sandra Caligaro for National Public Radio (NPR), March 31, 2015.

ATP 3-35. The U.S. Army has updated its deployment and redeployment doctrine. Check out Army Deployment and Redeployment (March 2015).
http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/atp3_35.pdf

Bergdahl Desertion. An article by Kate Brannen in The Cable Blog of Foreign Policy (March 30, 2015) says that "Bergdahl's Biggest Worry is Rare Misbehavior Before the Enemy Charge". This charge is far more serious than the desertion charge and carries a maximum punishment of life behind bars, a dishonorable discharge, a reduction in rank, and lost of thousands of dollars of pay and benefits that Bergdahl earned after joining the military. The charge isn't necessarily related to his time in captivity but rather from the time he walked off his remote outpost to when he was captured by the Taliban. He left his unit and his actions exposed men to danger who went searching for him over a period of months in very hostile areas of eastern Afghanistan.

Guest Writers Wanted

Newsletter at 5:00 am EST

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Interview with Mike Waltz on Afghanistan

James Rosen on "The Foxhole" of Fox News interviews Michael G. Waltz - a Special Forces officer with multiple tours in Afghanistan and also a former high-level employee of the Department of Defense. The interview is on the topics of Afghanistan, the Islamic Jihad, President Obama as the commander-in-chief, Pakistan offering sanctuary to insurgents, the distraction that Iraq caused in winning in Afghanistan, reliance on NATO as a central player in Afghanistan, and more. Waltz is a reserve component member of the U.S. Army Special Forces, served as special advisor to Vice President Cheney on South Asia and counterterrorism, and worked in the Department of Defense in the office responsible for counternarcotics in Afghanistan and South Asia. Waltz currently serves as a senior national security advisor with the New America Foundation. Waltz is also the author of the book Warrior Diplomat. Watch the 18-minute long interview with Mike Waltz.

Afghan Daily News Snippets (Mar 31, 2015)

Bergdahl Desertion. Members of Bergdahl's platoon are undercutting his defense. Bergdalh claims he left his remote outpost in Afghanistan to meet with higher level ranking officers about abuses within his unit. However, his platoon was due to redeploy back to FOB Sharana the next day - which was the largest base nearby with high level ranking officers. Bergdalh's defense attorney has a tough fight ahead of him. Read more in "Some in Bergdahl's platoon undercut his emerging defense", CNN News, March 29, 2015. A military judge writes on the defense team's tactics in "Did Bergdahl's Defense Team Reveal Its Strategy Too Soon?", Task & Purpose, March 30, 2015. Meanwhile the Republicans are using the prisoner swap to mount an attack on President Obama's foreign policy - criticizing the exchange of a deserter for five high-level Taliban commanders who were imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay - see "GOP puts Bergdahl swap on trial", The Hill Policy Blog, March 28, 2015.

Five Passengers Abducted. Tolo News reported (Mar 30, 2015) that five passengers were abducted in Balkh province by unknown gunmen. The incident took place in the Sholgara district on Monday.

IMU and ISIS. A group of Uzbeks in northern Afghanistan claiming to be from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) says it is pledging allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group. (Radio Free Europe, Mar 30, 2015).

Suicide Attack in Kabul. An attack kills 3 people and wounds a lawmaker and seven others. Some reports say that a member of parliament was the apparent target of the attack. (Gandhara Blog, Mar 30, 2015).

Power Shortage Due to Clashes. Fights between the ANSF and Taliban have cut off the main supply of power from the Kajaki power plant in Helmand to consumers in Helmand and Kandahar provinces. Clashes have made it difficult to repair the cut power lines. (Reuters, Mar 30, 2015). In addition, Kabul is still suffering from power shortages due to extreme winter conditions and avalanches.

Medical Lessons from Battlefield. The first responder sector is benefiting from medical lessons learned from the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Read more in "Lessons from the battlefield are transforming emergency medicine in huge ways", Business Insider, March 29, 2015.

Ghani and CFR. President Ghani, during his U.S. tour, spent time with the Council on Foreign Relations discussing the many challenges that lie ahead for Afghanistan. Hannah Gais, reports on the address by Ghani in her column "How Ashraf Ghani's Government Will Address Afghanistan's Endemic Problems", The Diplomat, March 30, 2015.

Arming Police Militias. Arming vigilantes in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to work alongside struggling police forces isn't a solution - it's a time bomb. Or at least so says Hassan Abbas and Nadia Gerspacher - the authors of a news article entitled "The Irregulars", Foreign Policy, March 30, 2015. I can't say I agree with the authors and it is very likely they don't have a clue about the Afghan Local Police.

Desert Warrior Course. The Army is starting up a new school in Texas called the Desert Warrior Course where Soldiers will learn combat tracking, night land navigation, medical skills, basic desert patrolling, hazardous desert wildlife (can you say snakes?), and other skills. The 20-day long course will be filling a gap in small-unit tactics that have gone neglected. The school will be modeled after previous desert training events (such as the desert training phrase - BTDT - that Ranger School used to offer back when it was really hard). The first Desert Warrior Course starts in June 2015. Read more in "Army to launch new desert school", Army Times, March 30, 2015.

SF Recruiting Video. It looks like U.S. Army Special Forces has released a new SF recruiting video in an attempt to get folks to volunteer for SF training. Shooting skills, parachuting, fast-roping and more! A one minute long video posted on the USASOC Facebook site.

Women in Balochistan Suffer. Just south of Afghanistan is Pakistan's largest province - Balochistan. Life is grim for women living there - honor killings, acid attacks, maternal mortality and illiteracy. Read more in "Shocking Conditions for Balochistan's Women", The Diplomat, March 29, 2015.

Upcoming Event on Pakistan. The Wilson Center will hold a presentation by Pakistani journalist and security specialist Zahid Hussain who will provide an evaluation of Pakistani's countermilitancy efforts since last December on April 2, 2015 from 3:00 - 4:30 pm. The event is titled "Pakistan's Intensified Countermilitancy Push: Real Deal or False Hope".

Guest Bloggers Invited

Afghan War News w/ Morning Coffee

Monday, March 30, 2015

Afghan News Snippets (Mar 30, 2015)

Light News Day! There wasn't much news on the Internet Sunday when I put this newsletter together. I suppose everyone is suffering from "news fatigue" on the topics of the Ghani-Abdullah visit to D.C., the Farkhunda murder, and ISIS in Afghanistan. There is lots of other stuff going on in the world capturing the headlines to include Iran nuclear talks, crashed German airliner, troubles in Yemen, and the ongoing conflict in Syria and Iraq. Of course, the weekends are usually relatively slow when it comes to news.

Then again, maybe I got scared of being on the computer most of the day after reading the newly released (2015) report by RAND Corporation entitled "A Review of Research on Problematic Internet Use and Well-being: With Recommendations for the U.S. Air Force". It seems that 6% of the Air Force personnel suffer from Problematic Internet Use or PIU.
http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR849.html

"Just as the Internet was becoming part of everyday life in the mid-1990s, mental health professionals started seeing patients who were so absorbed in their online activities that they were neglecting their important social relationships, their work responsibilities, and even their health."

More Afghan Tour of U.S. News. The U.S. State Department released a statement (through its Bureau of International Information Programs) on the recent President Ghani visit to the United States. Read "Afghanistan is moving forward, with help from its friends", Share America, March 27, 2015.
https://share.america.gov/afghanistan-is-moving-forward/

Abdullah Interview - BBC. CEO Abdullah is interviewed by BBC where he expressed optimism that his country was on the path towards self-reliance but noted that more must be done for continued strength. He discusses the need for continued international assistance, possibility of peace talks, threat from ISIS, women's rights, and more. Watch the four minute video. (4 mins).
www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32080321

Abdullah Interview - NPR. Dr. Abdullah is interviewed by National Public Radio (NPR). Some observations by the CEO: Karzai ruined the U.S.-Afghanistan relationship and it needed to be repaired; Ghani and Abdullah put aside their egos for the good of Afghanistan and formed the National Unity Government, it is good to leave the door open for peace talks with the Taliban, and more.

Ghani, U.S. Assistance, and Women's Rights. Catherine Powell, writing for the Development Channel Blog of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) hesitantly supports the modified departure of U.S. troops in Afghanistan as it will help Afghanistan to ensure women's rights are improved over the next several years. Read "Mr. Ghani Goes to Washington", March 27, 2015.

Graphics Showing US Public's Thoughts on Afghanistan. USA Today says that the percentage of Americans who think it was a mistake to enter Afghanistan has increased by 40 percentage points over the past 13 years. (March 29, 2015).

Foreign Fighters in Afghanistan (1980-1992). Dr. Avraham Sela presented a talk entitled "State, Society and Transnational Islamic Volunteer Fighters in Comparative Perspective: Palestine 1948 and Afghanistan (1980-92)" at the Center for Security Studies of of Georgetown. Read more on his talk in an article by Georgetown Security Studies Review (March 28, 2015).

Loose Nukes in Pakistan? An article in Eurasia Review says that Pakistan's nukes (between 90 to 120) are a lot safer than folks think. Read "Safety and Security of Pakistan's Nuclear Installations", (March 29, 2015).

Video - LTG Eikenberry and Dr. Ali Jalali. A 50-minute long video provides us with a presentation by former LTG Karl Eikenberry and Dr. Ali Jalali who talk about state-building in Afghanistan. Eikenberry did two tours in Afghanistan and was also an ambassador to Afghanistan. Dr. Jalali was born in Kabul and has been a U.S. citizen since 1987. He currently is a professor on Near East and South Asia studies at the Center for Strategic Studies of the U.S. National Defense University. (Posted by the United States Institute for Peace on YouTube.com, March 20, 2015, 50 minutes long).

https://youtu.be/JHoLD0aWYIk