The Insurgent’s Playbook

At Slate, Fred Kaplan argues that the killing of 2 officers in Afghanistan is a classic insurgent tactic… and it's working.

Once again, we find ourselves way in over our heads in Afghanistan, and at the worst possible time …

We don’t yet know the precise motive of the man who killed two American officers in a highly secure area of the Afghan interior ministry’s headquarters over the weekend. But the incident should not be surprising; it’s a classic case of insurgency tactics …

Of the 58 NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan so far this year, 10 have been at the hands of Afghan personnel whom they’d been training. 

…

If the insurgents demonstrate that not even American officers are safe, not even in the most secure corridors of the Afghan interior ministry, it… reinforces the theme that the government and its protectors can’t protect the Afghan people, … sows distrust between the government and its protectors, … [and]  severely weakens the government.

Read the whole short, but excellent article at Slate.  Hat tip to @GregJaffe and @smsaideman for the Tweet.