Gifts of Honor: A Tale of Two Captains

By Steven Pressfield | Published: January 18, 2010

Mangwel and the Konar River Valley

[Friends, with apologies, a stomach virus has laid the blog low.  Here's a re-run of a post that has been a reader favorite. We'll be back on Wednesday!] (more…)

Posted in Afghanistan, Agora, On Tribalism
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ONE TRIBE AT A TIME

The Full Document at last!

By Steven Pressfield | Published: October 29, 2009

[Because of the extraordinary response to Maj. Jim Gant's paper, One Tribe At A Time, I've decided to leave it up all week in the "Number One Slot."  My ongoing interview with Chief Ajmal Khan Zazai will pick again next Friday; the Chief has been in Kabul all week, meeting with U.S. and British commanders, and we haven't had time to speak. So all's well that ends well!] (more…)

Posted in Afghanistan, Agora, One Tribe At A Time
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AN INTERVIEW WITH AN AFGHAN TRIBAL CHIEF

An Open Letter to Gen. James Jones, National Security Advisor

By Steven Pressfield | Published: October 9, 2009

[This week has been a rough one for our troops in Afghanistan--and a contentions one among policymakers here in the States.  I'm going to interrupt our ongoing interview with tribal chief Ajmal Khan Zazai to post this open letter.  The same note was sent by e-mail two days ago to the parties below.]

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Posted in Afghanistan, Agora, An Interview with an Afghan Tribal Chief, Editorial
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ONE TRIBE AT A TIME

Tribal Engagement Teams

By Steven Pressfield | Published: October 5, 2009

Last week in our first excerpt from Special Forces Major Jim Gant’s paper, “One Tribe At A Time,” Maj. Gant laid out the concept for a specialized type of American unit–a Tribal Engagement Team. Such teams would be small, highly trained and motivated, and granted broad latitude in the means of pursuing their mission. They would live full-time in the villages with the tribes, “lead, assist, train, supply,” and help organize Tribal Security Forces (TSFs.)

Dr. Akhbar was the first person ODA 316 met in Mangwel village

Posted in Afghanistan, Agora, One Tribe At A Time
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ONE TRIBE AT A TIME

“One Tribe at a Time”

By Steven Pressfield | Published: September 28, 2009

The thoughts and I ideas that I will put forward in this paper are mine alone. Although I credit the U.S. Army Special Forces for the training I have received and the trust of [its] commanders, nothing in this paper reflects any other person’s or organization’s ideas.

Maj. Gant and ODA 316 in Afghanistan 2004

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Posted in Afghanistan, Agora, Editorial, One Tribe At A Time
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