Tag Archives: afghanistan

US Counterinsurgency Doctrine, Practice, and the Afghanistan Case: Dr. Terry Tucker

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Inbound Choppers in Afghanistan 2008

Taliban fighters after victory in Ghazni
                                       Terry Tucker and Afghan Interpreter, 2011

A woman begs in bombed city 

US Counterinsurgency Doctrine is a synthesis of lessons learned over the century, and continues to be a dynamic process. Dr. Terry Tucker, of the Army Lessons Learned division of the Department of Defense, is also a war historian. After 54 months in Afghanistan training Afghani and Coalition Forces, Dr. Tucker now synthesizes Lessons Learned using his intake work with returning troops, trains deploying troops and works to advance the effectiveness of Counterinsurgency.

In this Policy Pace interview with Paula LeRoy, MAIPS Security and Development from Monterey Institute of International Studies, Dr. Tucker gives examples of counterinsurgency principles and practices and particularly elaborates on the Afghanistan counterinsurgency operations. With candor about the mistakes made, regime change, future outlook, and stabilization difficulties, the Afghanistan case is reviewed.

Click here to download the hour long interview.

Please leave us a comment here or at policypace@live.com to let us know if this was interesting to you, if you shared it, and other comments. Thank you.

Mismatched Military Mission in the Afghanistan Theater: Lessons Learned? with Terry Tucker

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[middmedia pleroyantaki Commons-MIIS-web_data-middlebury-edu Mismatched+Military+Mission+TT1-PP.mp3 width:400 height:300] 

Dr. Terry Tucker, of the Department of Army Lessons Learned, summarizes his varied experience in counterinsurgency that includes working for the DEA, Saudia Royal Army, and the ISAF training Afghan and Coalition forces until 2010. Paula LeRoy hosts the first in the series of four interviews for Policy Pace with Dr. Tucker about counterinsurgency, military-civilian integration and Afghanistan.

The interview begins with analyzing how the military’s mission was mismatched with the skills set and history of military training (doctrine). Then recognizing the economic and political issues that color the conflict, a recap of the Powell and Bush doctrine requires a revisiting of Westphalia and Geneva Hague’s definitions of war.

The strength of Al-Queda is evaluated in terms of how war was “declared,” the impetus of fear, and the possibility that the US’s aggressive response has led to its own diminishment.  Fifteen minutes into the interview, Dr. Tucker elaborates on several examples of improvements in the use of soft power, cultural and language sensitivity, showing some lessons learned. The final part, considers conflict as a social movement, a theory which forms the basis of present day counterinsurgency tactics.

Click here to download the audio in MP3 format. The entire interview is 46 minutes.Add Media

If you have any comments, suggestions, or interest in being interviewed, please contact us at policypace@live.com

Why Write Stories about Women? by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

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“If you don’t speak for her, who else will?”  “You have a seat at the table, and if you give it up, no one else will speak for her, because she can’t!”   Gayle Tzemach Lemmon , speaks for under represented women, and encourages us too.  She is the author of The Dressmaker of Kahir Kahan, a true story of a woman entrepreneur in Afghanistan during the Taliban era. Gayle’s convincing presentation tasks us with voting by what we read. “The news is all bad, because we let it be,” she instructs us and continues on, not only to tell the compelling story of Kamala, a teacher turned dressmaker entrepreneur, but to motivate us to be the voice for women who do not have a seat at the table.  Taped and introduced by Paula LeRoy for Policy Pace, this 44 minute talk is a true treat.

Click here to download the presentation. It will download to your itunes or multimedia player, from which you can chose to download it to your ipod or mp3 player for mobile listening.

We encourage you to enjoy other speakers and interviews from the Dining for Women conference, found on Policy Pace at sites.middlebury.edu/informed.  Erika Keaveney of Lotus Outreach, Marsha Wallace-cofounder of Dining for Women, Ursula Daniels and Denise Woods on Gender Politics and Power are posted.

Afghanistan: Progress and Inadequacies of US Involvement: COIN expert Terry Tucker

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Lessons learned COIN expert Dr. Terry Tucker, expands the breadth of knowledge commonly available about US presence in Afghanistan. In this interview with Policy Pace, he details counterinsurgency pitfalls, challenges, ethics, and successes.  Other topics include hard power vs. soft power, rule of law, intricacies of training the Afghan police and military, proliferation of small arms, forming the new government, development  changes in gender based approaches, pacing and inclusion. Former Commander, Tucker also instructs us about the technical military structures that dictate the principles, constraints, mandates, and counterinsurgency techniques.

The information shared today is based on 51 months in Afghanistan training the Afghan police and national guard, interfacing with NGO’s and civilian leaders as well as  two years of employment with Army Lessons Learned as a policy analyst.  Presently, part of Dr. Tucker’s duties include interviewing returning troops and training deploying troops during which he stresses cultural and linguistic understanding, soft power skills, and the transmission of lessons learned.

Interview available at soundcloud.com/policypace/counterinsurgency-in

Afghani views of progress in Afghanistan

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Nasrullah Aman and Miryam Johari, two Afghanistan natives and Fullbright scholars studying at Monterey Institute of International Studies, discuss their work in Afghanistan, progress, politics, and sterotypes about Afghanistan. Education, government corruption, decentralization and improvement of the civil service, issues of US presence, the Taliban, al Queda, and promises for Afghanistan. This 56 minute interview presents a very different perspective than heard in mainstream media. A goal of Policy Pace, produced by Paula LeRoy,  is to bring fresh views and expertise to students, the public and policy makers.

Click here to download the interview. It will download to your itunes or multimedia program in MP3 formant, which can then be downloaded to your ipod or mp3 player for mobile listening. Enjoy!

Comments are appreciated.

Journalism and Women’s Needs: Q & A with Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

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“How can women be a majority of the population and a ‘special interest’ group?” is the lead question in this question and answer time at the Dining for Women Conference. Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, a well known journalist and author of the Dressmaker of Kahir Kahan, a true story about courageous women entrepreneurs during the Taliban era in Afghanistan, challenges assumptions about what is news worthy. Her interesting and passionate answers compel us to rethink the concept of ‘women’s issues.’ She has to advocate constantly  for ‘women’s issues’ to be part of the main news flow. Paula LeRoy, MA 2011, Security and Development at Monterey Institute of International Studies brings you this presentation as part of Policy Pace, a radio show aimed at bringing deeper news, less famous voices, and expertise to students and policy makers.

Click here to download the interview. It will open up in your iTunes or Multimedia Music Player as a MP3 file. It can be further downloaded to your ipod or mp3 player for mobile listening.