Losing Afghanistan: An Obituary for the Intervention

261 Pages·2016·16.96 MB·English

by  Noah Coburn

Losing Afghanistan

Losing Afghanistan
An Obituary for the Intervention
Noah Coburn
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
© 2016 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of Stanford University
Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Coburn, Noah, author.
Losing Afghanistan : an obituary for the intervention / Noah Coburn.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8047-9663-7 (cloth : alk. paper) —
ISBN 978-0-8047-9777-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Afghan War, 2001– —Political aspects. 2. Nation-building—Afghanistan. 3. Economic
assistance—Afghanistan. 4. Afghanistan—Politics and government—2001– I. Title.
DS371.412.C63 2016
958.104'7—dc23
2015020748
ISBN 978-0-8047-9780-1 (electronic)
Typeset by Thompson Type in 10/14 Minion
To Sediq Seddiqi, Farid Ahmad Bayat,
Mohammad Munir Salamzai, and
Mohammad Hassan Wafaey, with thanks
for long conversations, sharp insights,
warm hospitality, and the hope they
give me for the future of Afghanistan.

Contents
Images ix
Abbreviations xi
Chapter 1 Surveying the Intervention from Above 1
Chapter 2 Intervening 13
Chapter 3 The Exotic Tribes of the Intervention 39
Chapter 4 Before the Invasion 60
Chapter 5 A New Era? 77
Chapter 6 Contracting the Intervention 99
Chapter 7 Climbing over the Wall 125
Chapter 8 The Merchant–Warlord Alternative 137
Chapter 9 Warlord Density and Its Discontents 154
Chapter 10 How to Host Your Own Shura 173
Chapter 11 The Pieces Left Behind 200
Acknowledgments 215
Notes 217
Bibliography 229
Index 239
vii

Images
1.1 Guard tower 3
1.2 AWP workshop, Kabul 5
2.1 UN vehicle 15
2.2 Outside Bagram 27
3.1 Helmand PRT housing from above 47
3.2 Poppy Palace under construction 49
4.1 Unrenovated bazaar near Bagram 65
5.1 Wind turbine installation 96
6.1 Weapon clearance area near a base entrance 107
7.1 Brick factory 126
10.1 Internationally sponsored shura meeting 175
10.2 Shura school 183
11.1 U.S.-constructed Afghan police station 210
ix