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Military News, Events, Analysis and Commentary by Sean M. Maloney, PhD

The war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan has become controversial with the expanding Canadian role since 2005 and the subsequent casualties incurred during the course of operations. This counterinsurgency war is particularly complex and it is difficult for any single commentator or analyst to present the various facets of the mission. These are my attempts to make the situation understandable for both readers and myself. Some were written for a broad audience and others for specialized analysts and counterinsurgency practitioners. Click here to view Dr. Maloney's complete list of writings concerning Afghanistan.

NEW!!! Coming Soon!!!

“Fighting For Afghanistan” is the third book in the Rogue Historian trilogy, taking Dr. Maloney’s story into 2006 when the Taliban-led insurgency threatened to overwhelm the US-led coalition in southern Afghanistan. This shift to near-conventional warfare, as opposed to the small-scale guerilla attacks and urban terrorism in Kandahar, caught everybody by surprise and forced a small, under-equipped Canadian battle group, supported by a Canadian-led multinational brigade consisting of American, British, Dutch, forces, into a desperate series of battles to protect the city and to prevent the collapse of British forces in neighbouring Helmand province. The author arrived on the ground just as the situation spun out of control and he was able to capture, at all levels from infantry company to battle group to brigade headquarters, exactly what happened. This book explains the difficulties in balancing security and development, the challenges of operating in an austere, alien environment, and the human cost of counterinsurgency warfare in Afghanistan. “Fighting For Afghanistan” takes the reader through all of the moving parts and planning and then depicts how it played out on the field of battle. During the course of the action, the author became the first Canadian military historian to go into combat since the Korean War. The battles around Kandahar City in 2006 were the turning point in the Afghanistan war and this book is the first to explain events in detail from all three levels. The author was nearly killed on several occasions that summer during the fighting.

Coming Soon from Naval Institute Press!

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