Articles written by David Axe
By David Axe
18 Nov 2009 |
World Politics Review
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- The Afghan helicopter, a brand-new Russian-made Mi-17,
wasn't clearly his, but U.S. Air Force Maj. Darren Brumfield was still
determined to keep it. His unit, the 438th Air Expeditionary Training
Group, needs four transport helicopters to perform its mentoring mission to an Afghan air wing, and in
early November, the group had just three.
By David Axe
11 Nov 2009 |
World Politics Review
LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- As part of a strategy to win over local farmers in this agricultural region, U.S. forces organized a veterinary outreach event at the U.S. Army outpost in Baraki Barak district. But the event, like the larger plan, hinged on farmers accepting the gift that the military and
the district government were offering. And on the morning of the event, no farmers waited at the gate.
By David Axe
04 Nov 2009 |
World Politics Review
LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- In a farming village near Baraki Barak district, soldiers from the U.S. Army's 2nd Platoon, Able Troop, approached
every farmer they saw and, through an interpreter, invited them to fill
out a survey about local agriculture. The answers will help U.S. forces give friendly Afghans a
little of what they want in exchange for their cooperation.
By David Axe
28 Oct 2009 |
World Politics Review
A 6-year-old Afghan girl's treatment in an Air Force hospital reflects an imbalance in international efforts to secure
and rebuild Afghanistan. The high level of military activity has not
been matched by aid groups and government civilians. As a result,
Afghanistan still struggles with a lack of social services, jobs and
medical care -- and that could undermine the military strategy.
By David Axe
21 Oct 2009 |
World Politics Review
One unit's solution to the problem of powering an observation post
illustrates many of the most vexing challenges underlying the
eight-year-old Afghanistan war. Poor infrastructure, daunting terrain,
manpower shortages, equipment shortfalls and a sometimes ambivalent
local populace dog not just 3rd Squadron, but the whole war effort.
By David Axe
14 Oct 2009 |
World Politics Review
ABOARD USS DONALD COOK -- Boarding teams man the front lines of the war against piracy. When one of the warships patrolling East
African waters encounters a pirate boat, it's usually the boarding team that's tasked to apprehend the crew. It's dangerous work that also represents the point of contact between a powerful naval coalition and a community of struggling fishermen.
By David Axe
09 Oct 2009 |
WPR Blog
BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- Nearly a week after Taliban fighters overran a
U.S. and Afghan military outpost in eastern Afghanistan, killing eight
Americans and at least two Afghan soldiers, one U.S. Air Force official
wonders why the air service hasn't highlighted its own vital
contributions to the battle.
By David Axe
07 Oct 2009 |
World Politics Review
In the waters off Somalia, world powers have assembled a naval
counter-piracy coalition that includes flotillas from NATO, the EU, China, Japan, South Korea, India and Russia. The roughly 40 ships share intelligence and supplies, and, when necessary, help cover each other. There's just one country that refuses to cooperate: Iran.
By David Axe
30 Sep 2009 |
World Politics Review
ABOARD U.S.S. DONALD COOK -- In 2008, Somali pirates hijacked more than
100 large commercial vessels, provoking a massive international
response that included multilateral naval patrols in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, and diplomatic initiatives to forge consensus. The result, a year into this "global war on piracy," is that successful hijackings are way down.
By David Axe
23 Sep 2009 |
World Politics Review
Improvised explosive devices are taking an escalating toll
on coalition troops in Afghanistan. There are now so many IEDs on Afghanistan's roads that some units say it's no longer a question of whether they'll
be hit on a given day, but exactly when and where. That's
having a major effect on the conduct of military operations in a
country on the brink.
By David Axe
16 Sep 2009 |
World Politics Review
In August, fighters from the Lord's Resistance Army rampaged through South Sudan. LRA violence has plagued the now-autonomous region since the rebel group infiltrated it more than a decade ago, with the danger the group poses likely to escalate amid regional tensions and faltering border security.
By David Axe
14 Sep 2009 |
WPR Video
Elements of the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division are engaged in Afghanistans Wardak Province, southwest of Kabul. The division's Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry, lost 8 killed and 25 wounded in just three months in mid-2009. Twenty-one-year-old Spc. Justin Pellerin, who was killed by a roadside bomb blast in Afghanistan Aug. 20, is one such casualty. In the days following his death, Pellerin's friends remembered him, and mourned his loss.
By David Axe
09 Sep 2009 |
World Politics Review
The Taliban is running out of money. That was the conclusion some observers reached when it was reported last week that Afghanistan's poppy crop is down nearly a quarter compared to last
year. But other experts caution against declaring financial victory. If anything, the effort to dry up Taliban funding is only now catching up to the extremist group's sophisticated financial operations.
By David Axe
02 Sep 2009 |
World Politics Review
Comments by the outgoing commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur declaring an end to the war in Sudan's southern province sparked a firestorm of criticism from aid workers and analysts who have
labored to draw international attention to the
six-year-old Darfur crisis. The pronouncement ignores the ongoing crises along the
province's edges -- crises that could easily escalate and spread back
into Darfur.
By David Axe
26 Aug 2009 |
World Politics Review
While the bulk of the August 2008 Russia-Georgia war in South Ossetia pitted tanks against tanks and infantry against infantry, the conflict also featured sophisticated propaganda efforts. A year later, the propaganda campaign continues, especially in Russia, where a widely viewed TV documentary produced by a government-sponsored station has sparked a bitter debate over
Russia's manipulation of the media.
By David Axe
19 Aug 2009 |
World Politics Review
On Thursday morning, a bomb exploded in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, injuring a British soldier. Two days later, the soldier died. He was the 200th U.K. fatality in the eight-year-old Afghanistan war. British newspapers marked the milestone with a flurry of grim news reports. And in short order, fighting claimed four more British troops.
By David Axe
12 Aug 2009 |
World Politics Review
Israel's largest long-range naval deployment in recent history, carried out last month, could be a sign that it is stepping up both its conventional and nuclear deterrence. Israel sent three of its most powerful warships through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea. A potential goal of Israel is to prepare for conventional, pre-emptive strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
By David Axe
05 Aug 2009 |
World Politics Review
Somaliland is a rare bright spot on the Horn
of Africa's political landscape. But despite its successes, it has never been officially recognized
by other nations or by world bodies such as the African Union and U.N. One Somali activist says it's time for the world to embrace Somaliland, and consider the country a base for addressing instability in the south.
By David Axe
29 Jul 2009 |
World Politics Review
While the Pentagon characterizes its support for aid efforts as being strictly benign, "smart-power" missions, some observers worry that the military is turning apolitical charity into a tool of national security, and that its escalating involvement in humanitarian missions represents an "invasion" of civilian space.
By David Axe
22 Jul 2009 |
World Politics Review
A spate of fatal aviation incidents in Afghanistan in mid-July has underscored the dangers that civilian aviators, contracted by the U.S. and NATO to alleviate helicopter shortages, face in the contested region. They also highlight the murky role that Eastern European military contractors, who some might call "mercenaries," play in world conflicts, particularly in Africa.
