Is the Afghan War lost?
I am not a consistent non-interventionist – as some people are fond of reminding me. For example, I am no friend of the Slave Empire (sorry the “Slave Holding States of America” popularly known as the...
View ArticleSamizdata quote of the day
We’ve already killed all the dumb terrorists, so all that’s left are the smart ones. – I heard an American voice saying that, in connection with the ongoing war in Afghanistan, while I was transferring...
View ArticleSamizdata quote of the day
This might be the only measurement you need to judge the Afghanistan War. Vendors in Kabul are doing a brisk trade in Taliban ringtones. Because Afghans report that the Taliban kill travelers at...
View Article“Nothing can touch cricket as a force for good in Afghanistan …”
From a Cricinfo piece by George Dobell, about the one day cricket international between Afghanistan and Pakistan, played in the United Arab Emirates yesterday: A spokesman for the Taliban contacted the...
View ArticleArguments about drone-killing
I have been paying almost zero attention to President Obama’s campaign of robotised aerial execution, beyond noting that it has been happening. I didn’t know if this drone-killing was doing good, or...
View ArticleThe changing face of war in the air
Earlier this week, Brian Micklethwait of this parish gave an excellent talk about sport and how it sometimes has taken the place of military activity as far as -mostly- men are concerned. Brian will...
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What inflation now looks like
I like those elongated cakes with raisins in them referred to on the package as “finger madeleines with raisins”. A few days ago I purchased another stash of them, from the Afghan-run corner shop...
View ArticleHere we go again
BBC News 17:16 BST: Taliban take over Presidential Palace – reports Conveniently, Afghanistan has had its own Samizdata tag for nearly twenty years. It is interesting, if depressing, to look at the old...
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Why the Taliban won in one image
I was in favour of the initial post-9/11 campaign and frankly do not regret that. But as I and quite a few others said back in the day, the time for declaring victory and getting out came many years...
View ArticleSamizdata quote of the day
This was always the West’s problem in Afghanistan: it lacked faith in the very values it claimed to be delivering to that benighted country. We will liberate women from life under the burqa, Western...
View ArticleSamizdata quote of the day
The Taliban is getting its message out on social media, too, giving live updates on its seizure of power. A man claiming to be an official representative has had an active account on Twitter since 2017...
View ArticleVery interesting on-the-ground report from Kabul
Very interesting chat between CNN’s international correspondent Clarissa Ward in Afghanistan and Freddie Sayers of Unherd. This is great stuff and why independent media is so valuable.
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