Afghan ‘Insurgents’ Now Called ‘Enemies of Afghanistan’
08.12.2013 at 08:44pm
Afghan 'Insurgents' Now Called 'Enemies of Afghanistan' by Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today.
Military announcements of deaths in Afghanistan – generally terse, bare-bones statements – have undergone a subtle change this summer, reflecting the shift to Afghans for the security of their country.
The date, number of troops killed, general location and the type of attack accompany the most detailed news releases. Others merely state that a servicemember had been killed.
Until May 26, the assailant, if one were named, was referred to as an insurgent. Now, attackers are called "enemies of Afghanistan." …
Apparently Mr. O’Hanlon does not understand the nature of insurgency in general, or of this one in particular. We do far too much lumping of widely diverse actors under broad, dangerously meaningless titles already (AQ et al, AQAA, OTO, Taliban, etc). Sure, it eases targeting and reporting, but is so simplistic that it leads to “one size fits all” approaches.
This is not an improvement.