| Small Wars Journal

A Bill: To direct the Secretary of State to designate as foreign terrorist organizations certain Mexican drug cartels and submit a report on the activities the Department of State is taking to assist Mexico with drug cartel violence, and for other purposes.

H.R. 4303: Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 2012.

112th Congress, 2011–2012. Text as of Mar 29, 2012 (Introduced).

Excerpt follows:

SEC. 2. DESIGNATION.

The Secretary of State shall designate under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189) as a foreign terrorist organization the following:

            (1) The Arellano Felix Organization.

            (2) The Los Zetas Cartel.

            (3) The Juarez Cartel.

            (4) The Beltran Leyva Organization.

            (5) La Familia Michoacana.

            (6) The Sinaloa Cartel.

            (7) The Gulf Cartel/New Federation.

For full text: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr4303/text

Read more about H.R. 4303: Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 2012

16 April SWJ Roundup

US Naval Institute Daily - USNI

Real Clear World - RCP

Afghanistan

Taliban Attack Afghan Parliament, NATO Bases, and Western Embassies - VOA

Taliban Hits Afghan Cities in Coordinated Attack - WP

Complex Attack by Taliban Sends Message to the West - NYT

Taliban Attack Afghan Capital, 3 Other Cities - AP

Afghan-Led Forces Beat Back Brazen Taliban Attack - AP

Afghan Attacks: Fighting 'Over' in Kabul - BBC

Kabul Fighting Ends With Explosions, Heavy Gunfire - Reuters

Afghan Gov't: Militant Blames Haqqanis for Attacks - AP

Afghan Defense Ministry Says 32 Insurgents Killed in Attacks - Reuters

Afghanistan Attacks Seem Intended to Humiliate - LAT

Bold Taliban Attacks Unlikely to Alter US Afghan Plans - Reuters

Afghan Taliban Say More Similar Attacks to Come - Reuters

US and Taliban Fight for Key Afghan Highway - WP

Haqqani Insurgents Detained Over Afghan VP Assassination Attempt - Reuters

GIs Leery About Working with Taliban Defectors who Wanted them Dead - S&S

Confusion Reigned in Aftermath of Massacre, Even as Spin Had Begun - McClatchy

ISAF Operations Summary - AFPS

Pakistan

Hundreds Escape Pakistan Prison - VOA

Taliban Free 384 Inmates in Pakistan - NYT

Syria

UN Chief Concerned by Fresh Violence in Syria - VOA

UN Truce Observers Arrive in Syria as Shelling Continues - NYT

6 UN Observers Arrive in Syria - LAT

UN Monitors Begin Work in Syria - BBC

Shelling in Syria as UN Monitors Begin Mission - AP

UN Observers Face Tough Task in Syria - WP

Iran

Progress Claimed in Iran Nuclear Talks - WP

Iran, Big Powers Agree-To Keep Talking - Reuters

Israeli PM Says Nuclear Talks Gave Iran 'Freebie' - AP

Obama Says More Iran Sanctions Coming if Talks Drag - Reuters

Obama Pushes Back at Israeli Criticism - AP

Oil Falls to Near $102 After Iran Nuclear Talks - AP

Gulf States to Meet Tuesday on UAE-Iran Island Row - Reuters

The Bitter Truth About Iran - JP opinion

Israel / Palestinians

Israel Blocks ‘Fly-in’ by Pro-Palestinian Activists - VOA

Israel Moves to Block Activists From Entering - NYT

Israel: Pro-Palestinian Activists Get Attention, But No Entry - WP

Israeli Officer Who Attacked Activist Suspended - AP

Middle East / North Africa

2 Iraqi Election Officials Released on Bail - AP

Militants Attack Yemen Checkpoint - BBC

Egypt’s Top General Calls for Finishing of New Constitution - WP

New Tumult in Egypt’s Politics - NYT

Moroccan Marriage Law Causes Uproar - WP

Al Qaeda / Terrorism

NYC Man Faces Terror Trial - AP

Experts: IRA Dissidents Could Crash Olympics Party - AP

Al-Qaeda’s Man - WP editorial

US Department of Defense

Dempsey: Nation Faces Security Paradox - AFPS

As Army Prepares to Shrink, Chief Tries to Reassure His Soldiers - NYT

Air Force Tells Pilots to Slow Down to Save Fuel - S&S

Air Force Draws Criticism on Air Base Memo - BN

Panetta Vows to Continue Fighting Sexual Assault in Military - AFPS

NATO

NATO Sees Flaws in Air Campaign Against Qaddafi - NYT

United States

Obama Expects 'Rigorous' Secret Service Probe in Colombia Misconduct - VOA

Misconduct Inquiry Targets 16, Including Five Servicemembers - S&S

Obama: 'Angry' if Secret Service Allegations True - AP

Competitive Bidding Drives GSA Investigation - WP

Shoring Up Cyberattack Defenses - WP opinion

Africa

Boko Haram Video Brings Threat to Nigerian Government ‘Doorstep’ - VOA

West African Bloc to Mediate Guinea-Bissau Coup Crisis - VOA

Mali Ready to Talk to Rebels, Not 'Foreigners' - Reuters

Malian Gunmen Abduct Swiss Woman - BBC

Africa’s Free Press Problem - NYT opinion

Americas

Cuba Issue Blocks Final Consensus Declaration at Americas Summit - VOA

Americas Meeting Ends With Discord Over Cuba - NYT

Obama Concludes Summit on Defensive About Inviting Cuba - WP

No Americas Consensus Over Cuba - BBC

Cuba Casts Big Shadow Over Summit of Americas - AP

Latin America Rebels Against Obama Over Cuba - Reuters

Obama Clears Way for Colombia Free Trade Pact - LAT

Colombia Wins Americas Summit - MH opinion

Peru Rules Out Rebel Negotiations - BBC

Peruvian Troops Free Hostages - BBC

Mexico's Pena Nieto Extends Lead Over Main Rival - Reuters

Cracking the Mexican Cartels - NYT opinion

Asia Pacific

Philippine President: No War with China Over Shoal - AP

US, Philippine Troops Start Drills Near Disputed Sea - AP

US and Philippines in Sea Drills - BBC

China Premier Demands More Anti-graft Efforts - AP

China: Bo Xilai’s Fans Show Support Online - WP

North Korea's New Leader Makes Unprecedented Speech - VOA

North Korea: Kim Jong Eun Gives First Public Speech - WP

North Korean Leader Stresses Need for Strong Military - NYT

UN Security Council Said Ready to Condemn Pyongyang Missile Launch - VOA

Failure Will Drive North Korea to Nukes - FT opinion

Why North Korea's Rocket Mattered - NYT opinion

Australia, Norway, Ease Burma Sanctions - VOA

3 Vietnamese Bloggers Charged Over Writing - AP

Europe

Trial of Confessed Mass Killer Opens in Norway - NYT

Norway Killer Breivik Refuses to Recognize Court - Reuters

Belarus Frees High-Profile Opposition Activists - VOA

Turkey Jails 1997 Coup Suspects Pending Trial - Reuters

Europe’s Economic Suicide - NYT opinion

South Asia

India Says Maoists Are Top Internal Threat - AP

Read more about 16 April SWJ Roundup

Coordinated Attacks Across Afghanistan

The Taliban launched a set of coordinated attacks across Afghanistan. The attacks were centered in Kabul where fighting appears to be still on-going, but also included a suicide attack against the Jalalabad airbase, and in Paktika and Logar Provinces. In Kabul, reports indicate that the Taliban occupied numerous buildings in order to target NATO headquarters, parliament, and multiple western embassies, as well as attacking the presidential palace.

These attacks will surely spawn narrative and counter-narrative: the boldest coordinated attack yet in the form of a mini-Tet Offensive, or a pathetic attempt by a few die-hards that reflects the incapacity of the insurgency. With U.S. public support for the war already at new lows, with only 30% of respondents in support, (a low not seen in polls on Vietnam until May 1972), one wonders if this attack can really shake that last third of die-hard supporters. More broadly, though, how will this shape the U.S. domestic political narrative during the coming months ramping up to the election and what effect, if any, will it have on perceptions inside Afghanistan?

The Lost Decade?

This provocative essay from Angelo Codevilla at the Claremont Review of Books has enough vitriol in it to get some on everyone's sacred cow. He discusses everything from a revolutionary social situation, to the farce of TSA screening, to the paucity of ships for an "island nation." Even if you don't agree with some or all of it, the issues he raises and the way he addresses them are sure to get you thinking.

September 11's planners could hardly have imagined that their attacks might seriously undermine what Americans had built over two centuries, ... In fact, our decline happened because the War on Terror—albeit microscopic in size and destructiveness as wars go—forced upon us, as wars do, the most important questions that any society ever faces: Who are we, and who are our enemies? What kind of peace do we want? What does it take to get it? Are we able and willing to do what it takes to secure our preferred way of life, to deserve living the way we prefer? Our bipartisan ruling class's dysfunctional responses to such questions inflicted the deepest wounds.

...After 9/11, at home and abroad, our bipartisan ruling class did the characteristic things it had done before—just more of them, and more intensely. ... Ten years later, the results speak for themselves: the terrorists' force mineure proved to be the occasion for our own ruling elites and their ideas to plunge the country into troubles from which they cannot extricate it.

This Week at War: Iran's North Korea Scenario

In my Foreign Policy column, I ponder whether the collapse of Iran's oil trade, combined with internal repression, will create another North Korea.

After a 15-month suspension, negotiations over Iran's nuclear program will resume this weekend in Istanbul. The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany hope to make progress on an agreement that will block Iran from any path to a nuclear weapon, something Tehran has stated it doesn't want. Years of talks have achieved almost nothing. U.S. and European negotiators might have slightly higher hopes for this round. For the first time, sanctions are causing a drop in Iran's oil exports, adding to the threat of Israeli air strikes on Iran's nuclear complex -- both sources of leverage Western negotiators previously lacked.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad presented a brave face over the prospect of a global embargo of Iranian crude oil. On an April 10 visit to Hormozgan province, Ahmadinejad declared, "I should say that we have so much funds that even if we don't sell for two, three years the country will still be managed easily."

Accepting for the moment Ahmadinejad's claim of two to three years of cash reserves, one wonders whether he has planned for what happens after that. Iran's standoff with the West has already dragged on for nearly a decade and another two years or more would seem unremarkable. Meanwhile, Iran's oil revenues are falling and could drop much lower as the embargo on Iranian oil expands and investment in the oil sector dries up. Western leaders will welcome the leverage they believe this will create for them. But the consequences for the broader Iranian society are likely to be grim. For one possible scenario, Western leaders might want to look to this month's other nuclear flashpoint -- North Korea.

According to the U.S. government's Energy Information Agency (EIA), crude oil accounts for nearly 80 percent of Iran's exports and half of its government revenue. That revenue will decline sharply this year. The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that Iran's oil exports are expected to decline by 800,000 to a million barrels per day starting this summer, down from daily exports of 2.2 million barrels per day in 2011. This could reduce Iran's foreign exchange earnings from oil by a third to almost half later this year.

Iranian leaders had hoped that tight global supplies of oil combined with high prices would make the removal of Iranian oil from the market unacceptable. However, IEA's March 2012 oil market report included a rapid rebound in Libya's production, a jump in Saudi Arabian pumping, and smaller output increases in Iraq, Angola, and Nigeria that are offsetting the export decline from Iran. Meanwhile, weaker than expected economic growth in Europe and China may be limiting for the moment the global demand for oil, making the removal of Iranian exports from the market even more feasible.

Economic sanctions are also inflicting increasing damage on Iran's long run oil production potential. Iran's oil fields suffer a natural output decline rate of 8 to 13 percent per year, a higher production decline rate than most other oil fields around the world. Continuous reinvestment in upstream production is required to offset this natural decline. However, sanctions on Iran's oil industry and banking system are curtailing the foreign partnerships that the Iranian oil industry has relied on. EIA's latest short-term energy report, published on April 10, forecasts that Iran's oil production will decline by about 500,000 barrels per day by the end of this year, down from 3.55 million barrels per day at the end of 2011. In 2010, Iranian crude oil production hovered around 3.7 million barrels per day. Should the EIA forecast for 2012 hold, Iran's oil output will have declined nearly 18 percent in two years, with further substantial declines likely to follow should sanctions continue to restrict foreign investment in Iran's oil industry.

With these trends in place, it is not unreasonable to contemplate the end of net oil export from Iran within a few years. Although one should be cautious about extrapolating, if Iranian oil production declines at about a ten percent annual rate (in line with EIA's current forecast and the rough natural decline rate for Iran's fields), Iranian production could be down to two million barrels per day sometime in 2015. That would approximately match the country's daily consumption, leaving nothing for net exports. The result would be disastrous for government finances, foreign exchange earnings, and presumably the larger economy.

With this outlook for oil revenues and foreign exchange earnings, Iranian society will have to brace for deepening hardship. The disputed presidential election in June 2009 resulted in a sharp crackdown on dissent. Iran's internal security forces may have to further expand their vigilance should growing economic dislocation result in further unrest.

Western leaders are assuming that economic privation -- the result of their sanctions regime -- will compel a change in Tehran's calculations regarding its nuclear program, but the North Korean experience is not a supportive case study. In the face of crippling sanctions and political isolation, the leadership in Pyongyang has concluded that its nuclear and missile programs are its most valuable bargaining chips -- indeed, a failed test of a long-range missile and a possibly imminent nuclear weapon test show that Pyongyang is pressing on with these priorities regardless of the international consequences. Meanwhile, North Korea's internal security forces, the most repressive in the world, have successfully suppressed any grumbling over the country's collapsed economy. North Korea's economy is a basket case due to both international sanctions and the regime's need to maintain tight political control over society, but that has reinforced, not lessened, the government's repressive tendencies.

Is Iran on the road to becoming the next North Korea? As with Pyongyang, Tehran's nuclear and missile programs are important symbols of prestige, politically popular, and provide an otherwise poorly-armed country with negotiating leverage in a dangerous neighborhood. If this is the view of Iran's leadership, the prospects for a lasting deal with the West would be as poor as they have been with North Korea. To produce their own leverage, Western leaders prefer economic sanctions, which end up striking the broader population rather than the regime itself. And as with North Korea, economic sanctions could gradually compel the Iranian government to institute a police state with a command economy as a means of maintaining internal control. Just like North Korea, the result for Iran could be isolation, crushing internal repression, and economic collapse.

With this bleak outlook, Western policymakers may figure that time is on their side. They must be assuming that the leadership in Tehran will not be able to survive an economic collapse or that it will it not be able to erect the internal security apparatus necessary to maintain control, should deepening economic dislocation result in rebellion.

In this, Western leaders are implicitly asserting that North Korea is a one-off case, not replicable elsewhere. They may be right, but it seems that Iranian society may have to suffer through the experiment in order to find out.

Read more about This Week at War: Iran's North Korea Scenario

Disruptive Thinkers: More Thoughts on Disruption and National Security

“The Military Needs More Disruptive Thinkers,” by Benjamin Kohlmann was itself an example of the provocative and original thinking that the author calls for in the world of national security policy. The article reminded me of what is surely fast becoming the quote for our times when Sir Ernest Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics, once said to his staff: “Gentleman, we have run out of money. It is time to start thinking.”

In a world of long-term austerity, rapid technological change, declining importance of Westphalian concepts and later generation warfare that almost ceases to have any resemblance to traditional notions of war we can no longer afford to be prisoners to doctrinal precepts and organizational notions that are more applicable to the 1950s. The futility of large, inflexible military bureaucracies, procuring large, complex, over-engineered systems from the few large, inflexible remaining general contractors in a rapidly changing world seems evident. This system, which Anthony Cordesman has described as a “poisoned chalice” has long been broken and is no longer fully relevant to the emerging world of the “rise of the rest” and the proliferation of military technology. We need not only a revolution in military affairs; we need a revolution in military organization, design and procurement. We need to replace the military industrial complex with a military innovation complex, although the word “complex” is probably less than satisfactory to describe the dynamic that is most appropriate for the times. This emerging system would require far expanded notion of jointness: visions of security that extend beyond the battlefield integrating concepts from economic development, flexible manufacturing, commerce and social systems into the mix.

Something that I wrote an article critiquing one branch of the military, the Navy, and its fixation on large ships, seems relevant to this discussion. In that article appearing in the May 18, 2011 issue of Jane’s Defence Weekly I said:

What is the most effective way to achieve the missions of the US Navy: sea control, sea denial, power projection or protection of open commerce? In an age of networks, small wars, unmanned systems and diffusion of military technology, the best solutions are unlikely to be found in highly expensive, complex, centralised systems requiring massive manpower. Answers are likely to be found in ways that distribute firepower to lower-cost platforms for more widespread and rapid deployments on more numerous, but less visible, lower-signature vehicles. Solutions are likely to stress reliability over theoretical elegance, quality achieved through quantity and simplicity over complexity while utilizing the emerging capabilities of robotics and unmanned systems.

One real world example that illustrates this point can be found in a small New Hampshire company, Juliet Marine. Interestingly, Juliet describes itself , not as a defense contractor but as “a maritime technology think tank that is developing innovative solutions for naval and commercial applications.” This is the type of approach for which Lt. Kohlmann exhorts. Juliet claims that it can develop systems in one third the time and at one third the cost than achieved through usual military procurement procedures. Juliet has developed “Ghost” which they claim to be the world’s first supercavitating ship. Reportedly Ghost achieves very high speed through hull friction that is 1/900^th of conventional surface ships. The craft is claimed to have combined the features of an attack helicopter and a stealth fighter, but on water. The vessel was designed to control the littorals and would be applicable to missions from patrolling for pirates, keeping bodies such as the Straits of Hormuz open from swarm attacks to also supplying offshore oil rigs. As yet untested, the Ghost and the organizational system that produced it merit a lot of attention and, if verified, emulation. Most interesting of all, Juliet developed the Ghost on its own nickel, without any government funding.

As promising as all of this may be, disruptive thinking at operational and doctrinal levels has to be preceded by disruptive thinking at the level of grand strategy. Warmed over or updated versions of worldviews borrowed from the end of World War II or the Cold War will not suffice. The last attempt, “the Long War,” was a tepid stew not worthy of being served. We face a period of human history that will be unprecedented. How do we intend to use all of our strengths – economic, technological, social as well as military – to lead the world? The brayings from Washington are not promising. The supposed deficit hawks who are keen on revolutionizing the safety net and social contract want to give a free pass to the military complex not merely wanting more of the same, but rather increased amounts of the same. Waste is waste, no matter where found. Wasting money on outmoded concepts in the name of defense actually saps the national strength on which our power ultimately rests. Then too, there may be ways that the military can help solve national security problems through unconventional means. Two possible examples. The US Navy leads the world in small nuclear power generator technology and is developing some very promising technology to convert all too plentiful algae into fuel. Unleashing such technologies on the domestic economy to lessen reliance of the world on hydrocarbons from a very unstable Middle East could do wonders for national security. The coffers in the west are bare. The time has come to start thinking.

13 April SWJ Roundup

US Naval Institute Daily - USNI

Real Clear World - RCP

Afghanistan

Karzai Considers Earlier Election - WP

In Khost, Not Naming Names, But Mediating Blood Feuds - S&S

Pakistan

Pakistan Gives US List of Demands, Including End to Drone Strikes - NYT

Pakistan: US Drone Strikes Must End - WP

Pakistani Parliament Approves Proposals on US Ties - AP

Zardari's Stillborn 'Dargah Diplomacy' - AT opinion

Syria

Report: Syrian Cease-Fire Starting to Falter - VOA

Syria Cease-Fire Appears to Hold - WP

Cease-Fire Tested by Reports of Syria Clashes - NYT

Brief Syria Clash as Opposition Urges Mass Marches - AP

France's Sarkozy Says Assad Not Sincere on Ceasefire - Reuters

UN Outlines Syria Observer Plans - BBC

UN Meets on Draft to Authorize Syrian Observer Force - Reuters

Syria's Border Blackmail May Backfire - DS opinion

Iran

High Stakes, Low Hopes for Iran Nuclear Talks - LAT

Diplomats Struggle with Internal Differences Ahead of Iran Talks - WP

Iran Sees Nuke Talks Leaning Their Way - AP

China to Begin Delivering Supertankers to Iran in May - Reuters

3 Decades Later, Ex-Hostages Press On for Damages From Iran - NYT

Iran: We Do Not Want Nuclear Weapons - WP opinion

For a new Iran... - WP opinion

How to Tell if the Iran Talks Are Working - NYT opinion

Why Iran Will Compromise - TD opinion

Egypt

Election Is a New Start for an Aide to Mubarak - NYT

Egypt MPs Bar Regime Candidates - BBC

Egypt Parliament Aims to Stop ex-VP Run for President - LAT

Egypt ex-VP: I Joined Race to Stop Religious State - AP

Moderate Islamist Runs on Middle Ground in Egypt - AP

Middle East / North Africa

Defying ban, Egyptian Christians visit Jerusalem - Fox

Iraq: Gunmen Kill 5 in Attack on Police - AP

US-Israel Deal Threatens Progress - AT opinion

North Korea

N. Korean Rocket Fails But Still Angers US and Pacific Allies - S&S

North Korean Rocket Said to Fail Moments After Liftoff - NYT

North Korean Rocket Fails Soon After Launch - WP

North Korea Satellite Launch Fails - LAT

North Korea Rocket Launch Fails - BBC

N. Korean Rocket Reportedly Flew Just Over a Minute - LAT

Failed Rocket Signals Poor N. Korean Capability, Expert Says - LAT

Embarrassed by Rocket Crash, North Korea May Try Nuclear Test - Reuters

International Community Condemns North Korean Rocket Launch - VOA

White House Calls N. Korea Launch Provocation, Wasteful - LAT

Russia Says Opposes New Sanctions Against N. Korea - Reuters

Wrong Turn Grants Glimpse Behind N. Korean Curtain - AP

North Korea’s ‘Gulag’ - WP editorial

Why North Korea Gets Away With It - FA opinion

US Department of Defense

Judge Sets New Deadline for Nashiri Defense Team - AFPS

Judge Hears Arguments on Cole Defendant’s Motions - AFPS

Unmanned Vessel Could Soon be Working for Navy - AP

EUCOM, Red Cross Discuss Crisis Zone Response - S&S

Africa

Sudan and South Sudan Teeter on the Edge of War - LAT

South Sudan: No Withdrawal of Forces - WP

South Sudan Says Won't Withdraw Troops - AP

UN Demands End to Sudan Fighting - BBC

Islamist Sect Threatens to Bring Down Nigerian Government - VOA

Soldiers Take Over in Suspected Guinea Bissau Coup - VOA

Army 'Attempt Guinea-Bissau Coup' - BBC

Military Seizes Guinea-Bissau Capital, May be Coup - AP

Military Unrest Mars Hopes for Guinea-Bissau Election - LAT

As Mali Prepares for Vote, Interim Leader Is Sworn In - NYT

Mali Leader Threatens 'Total War' - BBC

Interim Mali Leader Promises Vote, Anti-Rebel Fight - Reuters

Danish Navy Frees Hostages Off Somalia Coast - DPA

Americas

7 Tortured, Bound Bodies Found in Mexican Port - AP

Video of Kid 'Violence' Stirs Storm in Mexico - AP

Mexico Struck by Two Earthquakes - BBC

Argentina President Proposes Oil Firm Nationalization - LAT

Argentina Has Oil Firm in Its Sights - NYT

Peru Rules Out Rebel Negotiations - BBC

Peru: Police Officer Killed During Hostage Search - AP

Vaccinations Begin in a Cholera-Ravaged Haiti - NYT

Latin America’s New Strategy in War on Drugs - WP opinion

Are Hard-Line Cuban-Americans Strong as Ever? - NYT opinion

Asia Pacific

China Asserts Control Over Military - WP

Chinese Media Fight Scandal Fallout; Focus on Bo’s Family - NYT

Murder Aside, China Inquiry Puts Couple’s Wealth on Trial - NYT

Philippines, China Recall Protest to Ease Standoff - AP

Britain’s Cameron Begins Historic Burma Visit - VOA

British PM in Historic Burma Visit - BBC

After Decades of Limits, Burma Offers Riches - NYT

Mongolian Ex-President Seized Over Corruption - AP

Europe

Russian Protest Leader Not So Well Known Outside Big Cities - WP

Russia’s Opposition Movement Tested - WP

Once Taboo, Germans’ Anti-Israel Whispers Grow Louder - NYT

Hard Times Lift Greece’s Anti-Immigrant Fringe - NYT

Denmark: Muhammad Cartoon Trial Under Way - BBC

Terror Trial of 4 Swedes Begins in Denmark - AP

Turkish Military Leaders Held for Role in ’97 Coup - NYT

Drawn to Extremes in France - LAT opinion

South Asia

India to Allow Investment From Pakistan, Open Border Post - Reuters

Read more about 13 April SWJ Roundup

Aiding the Afghan Band

The Atlantic reports that American military bandsmen are supporting an effort to create Afghan military bands. Seriously.

The 10th Mountain Division has sent soldiers to play at dining facilities and ceremonies and to tour remote outposts, entertaining troops with Avalanche, its six-piece rock band; Task Force Dixie, a New Orleans jazz-and-blues band; and Bunker Brass, a quintet. They’re a talented crew: U.S. soldiers must audition to be Army musicians. Those who make it include some promising high-school graduates, but a good number have studied music in college. After learning in basic training to shoot rifles and throw grenades, they have 10 weeks of band practice and advanced music theory.

...

And with money from a special U.S. fund for outfitting Afghan security forces, Wallace bought the band new instruments. He skipped woodwinds, American favorites that would likely be ruined by Kandahar’s dry, searing heat, and instead added a French horn and a tuba, though no one knows how to play them.

And yet Wallace, like other military mentors across Afghanistan, is learning that many of the stubbornest deficiencies here are not material, but institutional. A vivid illustration of the problem comes midway through practice, when Nejrabi tells me he doesn’t hold high aspirations for his band.

“They don’t really like to be musicians,” he says, nodding toward his men, who sit a few feet away, listening. “It’s an easy job, and they’re not going out on missions. They come out here to pass the time, make some money, and be safe.”