Blog

Why did they do it?

Written by Paul Eedle Friday, 11 December 2009 11:47

Eight years after the 9/11 attacks, four years after the 7/7 suicide bombings in London, an entire counter-terrorism industry has grown up in Britain. The government is spending £140 million on social programmes to 'counter violent extremism'. But do policymakers really understand what they are doing?

Here is a paper I wrote for a workshop with a group of academics working on "radicalisation" - a term which policymakers use all the time but which researchers find dangerously misleading.

Read more: Why did they do it?

British media miss new US strategy in Afghanistan

Written by Paul Eedle Wednesday, 19 August 2009 08:14

British media have stirred fierce arguments about the war in Afghanistan in the last six weeks, provoked by heavy casualties during Operation Panther's Claw in Helmand. Commentators have lined up to say this is a futile war run by incompetent politicians, fought by an under-sized, under-equipped army.

The mass of coverage, though, has largely missed a vital new part of the story: a total change of strategy by the US...

Read the full piece on the Guardian's Comment is Free

Help the UK Iraq Inquiry to succeed

Written by Paul Eedle Thursday, 30 July 2009 17:13

The UK Iraq Inquiry started work on 30 July and its chair, Sir John Chilcott, promised open hearings and transcripts on the Web. How can we make sure the Inquiry really investigates the questions that British and Iraqi people affected by the war want answered?

Read more: Help the UK Iraq Inquiry to succeed

Welcome to the Middle East, 2030

Written by Paul Eedle Wednesday, 15 July 2009 23:03

What if Barack Obama can make peace between the Arabs and Israel? It's easy to see how he might fail. But what if he succeeds and really does create a "new beginning between the United States and Muslims"? Here is a first draft of history for the next 20 years.

Our dead and their dead

Written by Paul Eedle Wednesday, 08 July 2009 17:35

I was moved visiting the new memorial to the 52 people killed in the 7/7 London bombings. But how about a slightly larger patch of Hyde Park to remember the 100,000 Iraqis killed since America and Britain invaded Iraq in 2003?

US Marines test new counterinsurgency strategy

Written by Paul Eedle Sunday, 05 July 2009 22:21

Excellent eyewitness piece by Rajiv Chandrasekaran of the Washington Post on the US Marines launching the first test of the Americans' new counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan.

"We're not going to measure your success by the number of times your ammunition is resupplied. . . . Our success in this environment will be very much predicated on restraint," he told a group of officers from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines on Sunday. "You're going to drink lots of tea. You're going to eat lots of goat. Get to know the people. That's the reason why we're here."

US Marines talk new language

Written by Paul Eedle Tuesday, 30 June 2009 13:49

Evidence that front line troops and not just generals have learned lessons from Iraq and are talking a new language - report from Helmand by Peter Graff of Reuters.

"We learned that we can't just go around kicking down doors because that won't work. In Iraq, what really helped us win over there, make the situation better, was gaining the trust of the people, becoming friends with them."

Its clear from an interview with VOA that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is fully on board.

New US approach to war in Afghanistan

Written by Paul Eedle Saturday, 27 June 2009 09:33

The Wall Street Journal picks up on the new US commander in Afghanistan's 'new way of war'.

He's creating a Pakistan Afghanistan Coordination cell of 400 officers who will spend years focussed on the war, so they build up local knowledge and relationships instead of all rotating out every 12 months. This is critical if the West is to win this war.

Read more: New US approach to war in Afghanistan