War and Politics in Afghanistan by Steve Coll, New Yorker

War and Politics in Afghanistan
from RealClearWorld
Steve Coll, New Yorker
Over the summer, the Afghan Taliban’s military committee distributed “A Book of Rules,” in Pashto, to its fighters. The book’s eleven chapters seem to draw from the population-centric principles of F.M. 3-24, the U.S. Army’s much publicized counter-insurgency field manual, released in 2006. Henceforth, the Taliban guide declares, suicide bombers must take “the utmost steps . . . to avoid civilian human loss.” Commanders should generally insure the “safety and security of the civilian’s life and...


http://www.realclearworld.com/2009/10/19/war_and_politics_in_afghanistan_105438.html