The Wrong War: An Interview with Bing West (Updated)
The Wrong War: An Interview with Bing West
by Michael Few
Download the Full Article: The Wrong War: An Interview with Bing West
Bing West’s The Wrong War: Grit, Strategy, and the Way Out of Afghanistan will be out on the bookshelf tomorrow. We asked Bing, a longtime supporter of Small Wars Journal, for an exclusive interview prior to publication. We wanted an honest, open discussion on the current war in Afghanistan and modern warfare. He more than delivered, and hopefully, this interview will be followed in several weeks with another by Octavian Manea. Enjoy the interview, and make sure that you go out and get his book!
– Mike
The new book title is quite provocative. Why is Afghanistan the “Wrong War?”
Afghanistan is the Wrong War for our benevolent strategy of wooing the Pashtuns by offering money. Our senior leaders say the war cannot be won by killing. It will surely be lost if we don’t kill more Islamist terrorists and hard-core Taliban. More disturbing, the US is steadily getting out of the arrest and imprisonment business, due to politics in the States.
Why aren’t we the “Strongest Tribe” in Afghanistan?
In Iraq, the Sunni tribes, with an established hierarchy and strong intra-clan ties, came over to our side because, as their leaders told me, they concluded we were the strongest tribe. It was no accident that the Sunni Awakening began in Anbar, where the Marines had hammered the insurgents – al Qaeda and Sunni tribes alike – year after year. In Afghanistan, the Pashtun sub-tribes have no such established hierarchy. Many villages have scant contact with the next. The Pashtuns will remain neutral and standoffish until they decide who is going to win. They are convinced the Taliban will return as we pull out.
Download the Full Article: The Wrong War: An Interview with Bing West
Michael Few is the Editor of Small Wars Journal.
Update. Bing expands his final answer to address Nathanial Fick and John Nagl’s op-ed in the New York Times.
