Helmand – ZERO ANTHROPOLOGY

The Political Economy of the Bullet in Afghanistan

“Tactics or Strategy?“ is an article by Francis J. “Bing” West (referred to me by a correspondent in Twitter — apologies for not noting the name for the appropriate thanks). In that piece, West makes a series of critical points that deserve wider, and focused, attention. The first point he makes is that there is […]

Bait & Switch from the Anti-Colonial Hearts & Minds

Reading like a classic scene replayed from the vast literature on colonial history, this gem: In the southern province of Helmand, U.S. Marines have been trying to secure the strategic town of Dahaneh to cut Taliban supply lines and enable the government to open a polling station there. After two days of fighting, Marines helped […]

NATO and Afghanistan’s Shia Marriage Law: The Collapse of a Master Narrative

“The Westerners claim that they have brought democracy to Afghanistan. What does democracy mean? It means government by the people for the people. They should let the people use these democratic rights” (Mohammad Asif Mohseni, senior Afghan cleric and legislator, 11 April 2009) “I hope that we have elevated in the hearts and minds of […]