John Cook - Army Strong Stories

Rules of Engagement

John Cook — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:44:00 GMT

By: John Cook
The rules of engagement (or ROE) are a series of restrictive measures imposed on the coalition forces in Afghanistan. They are designed to reduce civilian casualties. For example, firing into an area where civilians might be is prohibited, regardless of the presence of Taliban. Airstrikes and artillery fire are severely restricted, even when coalition forces are in direct contact with the enemy and in desperate need of assistance. These encounters often result in coalition casualties that...read more

Dispatches from the Front: Afghanistan June, 2010

John Cook — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 21:56:00 GMT

By: John Cook
June began with much promise in Afghanistan. The big Peace Jirga had just concluded in Kabul and, while it was not as successful as billed, it was a start. Great things were expected from Mohammad Hanif Atmar, the Minister of Interior and General Stanley McCrystal in the coming months leading up to the July 2011 deadline for the start of withdrawal of American troops. General McCrystal, NATO and coalition commander was expected to achieve “measurable...read more

From Vietnam to Afghanistan: A Brief Study in Contrasts

John Cook — Sun, 23 May 2010 09:05:00 GMT

By: John Cook
Vietnam War As a veteran of both conflicts, I’m often asked if there are any characteristics that are common to both wars. The short answer is: very few. First of all, Vietnam was a first rate insurgency because the Viet Cong were well trained, disciplined, and very effective. While I strongly opposed their political agenda and ideology, they did have a plan for governing South Vietnam in the event they succeeded in overthrowing the government. Their plan...read more

The Refugee Camp

John Cook — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:46:00 GMT

By: John Cook
The convoy of seven vehicles pulls off the main road and drives slowly over the hard, broken ground and gets as close as possible to the refugee camp. This one has about two hundred people; men, women and children of all ages. The soldiers that will provide security quickly get out of the armored SUVs and form a protective ring around the other vehicles. To call it a refugee camp does violence to the word camp. This place is not a camp. Its a few acres of hard dirt that has no value to...read more

Saving Afghanistan, One Advisor at a Time

John Cook — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 09:12:00 GMT

By: John Cook
American strategy in Afghanistan is built around an army of advisors. They are the key to every initiative and program here and they are everywhere, from the very top of the government in Kabul building ministries and infrastructure, all the way down to the districts building bridges and roads, to the battlefields in Helmand and Kandahar building effective Afghan fighting forces. There are thousands of them scattered across the country and, due to the increased emphasis Afghanistan is getting...read more

Conversation with Dr. Faisal

John Cook — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 01:30:00 GMT

By: John Cook
Ahmad Faisal is a 29 year old Afghan who lives in a rented apartment in downtown Kabul with his pregnant wife, Sara. Like many Afghans his age, he has witnessed the horrors of the Taliban first hand and has spent much of his life in neighboring Pakistan. We often talk about that period in Afghanistan’s violent past, how he wore a fake beard because men were supposed to have real beards and he couldn’t grow one, and how his family had to hide their small TV in a hole in the yard during the...read more

Political Power in Afghanistan

John Cook — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:03:00 GMT

By: John Cook
Mao-tse-Tung once quipped that all political power comes from the barrel of a gun. Apparently, he never spent much time in Afghanistan. Here, real political power neither comes from the barrel of a gun nor from legally established bodies such as the Afghan parliament or the office of the president. There are no pure political parties here, at least not ones that would be recognized as political parties by Americans. Here, raw political power is based on tribal identity. In essence, the...read more

“The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations”

John Cook — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:29:00 GMT

By: John Cook
These are President George Bush’s words, not mine. I wish they were mine. They are from his acceptance speech before the Republican National Convention in 2004. The point he was making concerned the sorry state of public education resulting in a high rate of failure. He believed American educators had set the achievement bar too low due to the mistaken belief that some students simply could not perform. The same can be said about our present situation in Afghanistan. We have set...read more

CAMP EGGERS

John Cook — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:36:00 GMT

By: John Cook
There is no place, anywhere, quite like Camp Eggers in downtown Kabul. Home to over 1,600 military and civilians, Camp Eggers is also home of the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan as well as the newly-formed NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan. Both of these organizations are commanded by LTG William Caldwell. In very simple terms, the mission of these two commands is to show the Afghans how to save their country and provide them the tools to do the job. The camp is named in...read more

SUICIDE BOMBERS

John Cook — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:31:00 GMT

By: John Cook
Of all the challenges facing Afghanistan, suicide bombers are in a class all by themselves. The idea of a man strapping on twenty pounds of explosives and walking into a crowded marketplace with the sole purpose of killing as many people as possible is beyond comprehension in a civilized world. There is nowhere to put this kind of behavior, even in combat. Yet it happens in Kabul with regularity. If the Taliban decide a bigger bang is called for, they will pack a non-descript Toyota Corolla...read more

The Streets of Kabul

John Cook — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:31:00 GMT

By: John Cook
Kabul is unlike any place I have ever seen. The streets are rutted, lined on both sides by open sewers. Driving through the city is like driving back in time. At first glance, it appears that the city is blissfully unaware of the fact that the world is in the 21st century. In front of a meat market, every animal, except for pigs, is hanging from a hook, completely dressed out with no where to go. Customers surround the fly-covered carcasses, pointing out the cuts they. If will all be sold...read more