Dr. Walter Dorn, Associate Professor of Defence Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada and the Canadian Forces College, suggests in a new op-ed article that a UN peacekeeping force is the best hope for building a more peaceful Afghanistan: There is already a small UN “good-offices” mission, called the UN Assistance Mission in […]
Archive | December, 2009
Roll up the Taliban to win?
Canada’s area of military responsibility in Afghanistan is being reduced to maintaining a security perimeter—described by one Canadian soldier as a “doughnut of stability”—around Kandahar City and conducting anti-Taliban operations in Arghandab district just to the northwest of the city, the Globe and Mail reports (see here and here). The new role will be shared […]
Obama escalates Afghan war, promises a way out
U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday night that he is increasing the U.S. contingent in Afghanistan by 30,000 troops and asking NATO to increase its own troop presence by 5,000 to 10,000. He also stated that the U.S. would seek to speed up the transfer of responsibility for Afghan security to the Afghan government […]