War From the Ground Up (46 page)

44
. See Brendan Simms and D. J. B. Trim (ed.),
Humanitarian Intervention: A History
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011).

45
. Clausewitz's style in 1812 was not that of the more mature author of
On War
, started in 1816, and still unfinished by 1830. Hew Strachan argues that Clausewitz most clearly subscribed to an ‘existential' view of war in the years 1809–12. His later views, which we find in
On War
, are far more balanced and incorporate the idea of ‘instrumental' war. The two forms are reconciled by a broad definition of policy. Clausewitz,
Historical and Political Writings
, edited and translated by Peter Paret and Daniel Moran (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992), p. 290. In Hew Strachan,
Clausewitz's On War, A Biography
, pp. 53–4.

46
. Clausewitz,
On War
, Book 5, ch. 16, p. 345; Book 6, ch. 3, p. 365; Book 6, ch. 6, p. 373.

47
. Hew Strachan in his biography of
On War
argues that even Clausewitz's treatment of insurrections is framed in terms of an extension of state on state warfare, where the people continue the state struggle through unconventional means. As a Prussian officer, Clausewitz drew up contingency plans in 1811 for a possible insurrection in Silesia against France. He argued that not just Prussia but the German nation should rise up. Hew Strachan,
Clausewitz's On War, A Biography
, p. 182.

48
. Clausewitz,
On War
, Book 2, ch. 2, p. 138.

49
. The term ‘ally' also has an emotional implication. It comes from the Latin
alligare
(to bind to); in medieval English ‘ally' was used as a verb to mean ‘to join in marriage' (late thirteenth century), and subsequently as a noun to mean ‘relative' or ‘kinsman' (late fourteenth century).

50
. Peter Paret notes that even in 1806, at the time of Clausewitz's experiences of warfare, despite the emergence of ideas of the ‘German Nation', there were widely different political reactions to the Prussian defeat at Jena by the other German states and principalities. Some felt admiration for French reforms, which Paret argues was not inconsistent with broader German patriotism. Peter Paret,
The Cognitive Challenge of War
, p. 38.

51
. Erich Maria Remarque,
All Quiet on the Western Front
, originally published in
Vossische Zeitung
(1929), translated by A. H. Wheen (London: Putnam, 1930).

52
. Ibid., p. 287.

53
. Ibid., pp. 222–3.

54
. ‘Afghanistan bombing kills 13 in busy Helmand market', BBC News Online, 31 March 2010.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8596312.stm

1
. Quoted in Hew Strachan, ‘The Lost Meaning of Strategy',
Survival
47:3, 33–54 (2005), pp. 33–4.

2
. I am grateful to Ian Gordon for this expression. He is a former Gurkha officer who himself uses this expression in relation to his experience of the Dhofar War of the 1970s.

3
. Clausewitz,
On War
, Book 1, ch. 1, Howard and Paret, p. 80.

4
. Brendan Simms,
Unfinest Hour: Britain and the Destruction of Bosnia
(London: Penguin, 2002).

5
. General Graeme Lamb, ‘Counter-insurgency Commander's Guidance' (British Army internal unclassified publication, May 2009).

6
. Andrew Ross Sorkin,
Too Big to Fail
(Allen Lane, 2009) p. 432.

7
. Ibid., p. 223.

8
. Northern Helmand used to be called Zamindabar. The province of Helmand was only created in 1960 and was called Gereshk Province from 1960–64 when the provincial capital moved to Lashkar Gah. See Mike Martin,
A Brief History of Helmand
(British Army publication, 2011).

9
. Mike Martin,
A Brief History of Helmand
, p. 72. Martin cites Professor Habibullah Rafi, Kabul University, quoted in Tom Coghlan, ‘The Taliban in Helmand: An Oral History', in Antonio Giustozzi (ed.),
Decoding the
Taliban
, p. 125, 129; S. Gordon,
Aid and Stabilisation: Helmand Case Study
, Royal Institute of International Affairs, p. 52.

10
. This was an idea formally put forward by R. G. Collingwood in
The Idea of History
(1946), although the actual phrase was coined by E. H. Carr,
What is History?
(1960).

11
. See for example Jill Lepore,
The Whites of Their Eyes, The Tea Party's Revolution and the Battle over American History
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010).

12
. Leo Tolstoy
War and Peace
(1869), trans. Louise Maude, Aylmer Maude (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), Book 3, ch.1, p. 650. Tolstoy's theory of history is fully expounded in the second epilogue of
War and Peace
.

13
. Harry S. Truman, ‘Inaugural Address', 20 January 1949,
Public Papers of the Presidents
(1949), pp. 114–15.

14
. ‘Point IV',
Fortune
, February 1950, p. 88.

15
. Cullather cites Jawaharlal Nehru,
The Discovery of India
(New York: Doubleday, 1960), p. 393.

16
. Nick Cullather,
From New Deal to New Frontier in Afghanistan: Modernization in a Buffer State
, Working Paper #6 (August 2002), ‘The Cold War as Global Conflict', International Center for Advanced Studies, New York University, p. 3.

17
. See for example Antonio Giustozzi,
War, Politics and Society in Afghanistan 1978–1992
(London: Hurst, 2000), especially ch. 13 on ‘National Reconciliation', pp. 154–85.

18
. These observations came from discussions with my father, James Simpson, the author of
Burning to Read, English Fundamentalism and its Reformation Opponents
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard Belknap Press, 2007), p. 247.

19
. Ibid., p. 247.

20
. On the role of rumors in Afghan politics see for example Antonio Giustozzi, ‘The “Great Fears” of Afghanistan: How Wild Ideas Shape Politics',
Ideas Today
, issue 04.10, London School of Economics and Political Science (June 2010), pp. 9–13.

21
. BBC Radio 4, Political Hour, 28 June 2009.

22
. James Simpson,
Burning to Read
, p. 178.

23
. This interpretation follows Saint Paul (2 Corinthians 3:3) which might be taken to suppose that the true text of the literal sense is written ‘in the fleshly tables of the heart'. There is a much wider theological debate over this which this Book is not concerned with.

24
. Lord Denning in
Magor and St Mellon RDC
v.
Newport Corpn
[1950] 2 All ER 1226 at 1236, CA. Cited in Ian Loveland,
Constitutional Law, Administrative
Law, and Human Rights: A Critical Introduction
, 5
^th
edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 69.

25
. General Sir Graeme Lamb in House of Commons Defence Committee, Fourth Report, Operations in Afghanistan, 17 July 2011, p. Ev 66, Q 288.

1
. Clausewitz,
On War
, Book 6, ch. 30, Howard and Paret, p. 515.

2
. President G. W. Bush, address to a joint session of Congress, 20 September 2001.

3
. Ian Traynor, ‘Russia accused of unleashing cyberwar to disable Estonia',
Guardian
, 17 May 2007.

4
. Although even the practice of capturing people in the Afghan conflict illustrates the differences with conventional war, since detainees are not prisoners of war, and so have to be prosecuted by the Afghan justice system. The notion of routinely gathering ‘evidence' against enemy soldiers is alien to conventional war.

5
. This doctrine was consciously Clausewitzian. See Hew Strachan, ‘Strategy and the Limitation of War',
Survival
, vol. 50, no. 1, Feb.-March 2008, p. 50.

6
. Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions 1949, Article 52.2, states that: ‘Attacks shall be limited strictly to military objectives. In so far as objects are concerned, military objectives are limited to those objects which by their nature, location, purpose or use make an effective contribution to military action and whose total or partial destruction, capture or neutralization, in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military advantage'.

7
. Jack L. Snyder,
The Soviet Strategic Culture: Implications for Limited Nuclear Operations
, Report for the United States Air Force R-2154-AF (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 1977).

8
. The Network of Concerned Anthropologists,
The Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009).

9
. Clausewitz,
On War
, Book 1, ch. 1, Howard and Paret, p. 77.

10
. Ibid., Book 3, ch. 16, p. 217.

11
. Ibid., Book 8, ch. 2, p. 579.

12
. Ibid., Book 1, ch. 1, p. 76.

13
. Ibid., Book 1, ch. 1, p. 89.

14
. Ibid., Book 1, ch. 1, p. 86.

15
. See Daniel Moran,
Strategic Theory and the History of War
, p. 4. He cites, for example, Jeremy Bentham,
A Plan for Universal and Perpetual Peace
(London, 1789).

16
. Daniel Moran,
Strategic Theory and the History of War
, p. 4.

17
. Clausewitz,
On War
, Book 1, ch. 1, p. 80.

18
. HM Government, ‘A Strong Britain in an Age of Uncertainty: The National Security Strategy' (London: Stationery Office, October 2010), p. 15.

19
. Nicholas Watt, ‘Senior military figures tell Liam Fox: “rescrub” your defence review',
Guardian Online
, 13 June 2011.

20
. The report is clear that the UK had at that point strategically lost its way: ‘this leads us to the profoundly disturbing conclusion that an understanding of National Strategy and an appreciation of why it is important has indeed largely been lost'. Public Administration Committee, ‘First Report: Who does UK National Strategy?' Published 12 October 2010, ch. 4, paragraphs 32, 39, 40.

Abdul Rahman Jan: Afghan Chief of Police,
46

removed from office (2005),
48

Abrams, General Creighton:
200

Aden/South Arabia campaign:
174

Afghanistan, conflict in:
1
,
5
–
7
,
10
,
12
,
14
,
22
–
24
,
34
,
43
,
56
–
57
,
63
,
66
,
71
,
75
–
84
,
97
,
99
–
100
,
121
,
125
,
140
,
145
–
47
,
152
,
154
,
182
,
187
,
205
,
208
,
211
,
221
,
223
,
228
,
230
–
1

Afghan Army,
79
–
80
,
218

Alikozai tribe,
45
–
6

Alizai tribe,
42
–
43
,
48
,
214

audiences,
75
–
84

Baluchi Valley,
22

Barakzai tribe,
47
,
205
,
214

borders of,
46

Communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan factions (
Parcham
and
Khalq
),
82
–
3

Garmsir,
47

Gereshk,
47
,
81
–
82
,
213

Helmand Province,
24
,
28
,
42
–
45
459,
61
,
77
,
102
,
107
–
8
,
122
–
3
,
125
–
6
,
148
,
179
,
204
–
5
,
211
,
213
–
15
,
217
,
241

Helmand Valley Develoment Project,
217
–
18

Hyderabad,
59
–
61
,
216

insurgency in Afghanistan/‘the' Taliban,
2
–
3
,
10
,
17
,
19
,
24
,
28
,
32
–
34
,
43
–
54
,
57
,
59
–
60
,
75
–
84
,
94
,
100
–
1
,
106
,
122
–
3
,
140
,
145
,
188
,
202
,
205
,
209
,
215
–
16
,
218
–
220
,
222
,
226
,
229

Ishaqzai tribe,
45
,
48
,
205

Jalalabad, battle of,
210

Kabul,
44
,
46
–
7
,
181
,
210

Kandahar Province,
7
,
18
,
43
–
4
,
47
,
77
,
79
,
87
,
100
,
108
,
179
,
215