Military Operations In Afghanistan Research Articles

Gender differences in mental health outcomes among Afghanistan veterans exposed to war zone trauma.

Research has sought to identify whether women have an increased risk of developing mental health problems following military trauma compared to men, but the results are mixed. This study examined gender differences in a range of mental health outcomes within three levels of war zone trauma exposure and investigated gender differences in risk and protective factors associated with clinical mental health problems. Using data from a cross-sectional, postdeployment survey, a sample of Norwegian veterans of recent military operations in Afghanistan (N = 6,205, 8.3% women) were sorted according to reported war zone trauma exposure level (low, medium, high), then assessed for symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), posttraumatic distress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and alcohol problems. The findings revealed that men who reported low war zone exposure had lower levels of posttraumatic distress symptoms than women, d = -0.20, p = .040, but were more likely to report symptoms of alcohol problems within the low, d = 0.33, p < .001; medium, d = 0.39, p < .001; and high, d = 0.37, p = .049, exposure groups; however, these differences disappeared when all symptom variables were combined into one clinical mental health problem variable. Women with a clinical mental health problem were less likely to report war zone exposure than men, OR = 0.93, 95% CI [0.90, 0.97], p = .001. Findings suggest that although gender differences in mental health symptoms exist, male and female veterans with mental health problems may share more similarities than previously recognized.

Daily exposure to combat-related cues and posttraumatic stress symptoms among veterans: Moderating effects of peri- and postdeployment experiences.

One of the central symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a heightened reactivity to trauma cues. The current study used experience sampling to investigate the associations between exposure to combat-related cues and PTSD symptoms in 93 U.S. veterans who served in support of recent military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. We also examined the effects of peri- and postdeployment factors, including exposure to combat, unit support during deployment, and postdeployment social support on PTSD. Participants completed eight brief random surveys daily for 2 weeks using palmtop computers. The results indicated that more daytime exposure to trauma cues was associated with experiencing more PTSD symptoms at the within-person level, B = 3.18. At the between-person level, combat exposure, B = 4.20, was associated with more PTSD symptoms, whereas unit support, B = -0.89, was associated with experiencing fewer symptoms. At the cross-level interaction, unit support, B = -0.80, moderated the association between trauma cue exposure and PTSD symptom count. Contrary to our hypothesis, postdeployment social support, B = -0.59, was not associated with PTSD symptoms. These findings suggest a functional association between exposure to trauma cues and PTSD symptoms among recent-era U.S. veterans and underscore the importance of unit support during deployment.

THE UNITED STATES FOREIGN POLICY AGAINST AFGHANISTAN MILITARY: A COVERT MILITARY METHOD

This study aims to analyze and explain the foreign policy of the United States towards the Afghan militia, especially the Taliban. The United States government with the help of the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) investigates and seeks to destroy the Al Qaeda terrorist group led by Osama bin Laden who was later found to be in Afghanistan and obtained protection under the Taliban. The Taliban, the Islamic extremist regime that controls Afghanistan and offers space for Al Qaeda militants to exercise its military in Afghanistan. President Bush signed a resolution on September 18, 2001 regarding the attacks on Al Qaeda under the protection of the Taliban in Afghanistan which continues to this day. The United States is actively involved in supporting military operations in Afghanistan, including logistical assistance, Afghan military training, and sending American military troops to conflict areas. The main goal of the United States in doing so is to prevent potential future attacks by a growing terrorist group in Afghanistan. Based on data from the United States Department of Defense, the total expenditure in the military sector in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2019 was 778 billion USD. Meanwhile, the number of troops sent to conflict locations was 596,303 troops. There are 2,441 US military troops confirmed dead in the Afghan war from 2001 to 2019. It is estimated that about 12,000 US military troops are still in Afghanistan. This research is a qualitative research and the data collection technique used by the author in this study is Library Research in the form of books, journals, documents, reports, articles, or newspapers obtained through electronic and non-electronic media. The conclusion is that this foreign policy is relevant and elaborates that in international relations there will be actions, reactions, and interactions between political entities called states. The state, in this case the head of state as the decision maker, tries to formulate every goal to be achieved by minimizing sacrifices to the national interest. In line with the policies pursued by President Trump to end the war in Afghanistan and withdraw all military forces of the United States and its allies.

Unifying loyalty: a grounded theory about tactical officers’ challenges when leading licensed medical personnel in combat zones

Abstract Objectives The aim was to explore the tactical officers’ (TOs) main concerns when leading licensed medical personnel (LMP) in combat zones and how they resolved them. Methods A classic grounded theory was chosen in order to develop a theory, which explained and conceptualized the TOs behaviors. Ten individual interviews and five informal conversations were conducted with TOs with various ranks, experienced in leading LMPs on military operations in Afghanistan, Mali and/or Aden (outside the coast of Somalia). Results The theory unifying loyalty explains how TOs handle the challenges when leading LMP. To create loyalty TOs use four strategies: executing orders, clearing out roles, marking limits and clarifying rules and laws. These strategies can be used by two leadership styles, hierarchical and democratic. Conclusions In order to fulfill the military duties it is essential to unify LMP in the unit, which is a challenge since LMP experience dual loyalty. The main goal for TOs is to ensure and maintain stability and do the military duties when being in combat zones and that requires using both leadership styles, depending on what the conditions in combat zones requires.

Narratives and War: Explaining the Length and End of U.S. Military Operations in Afghanistan

Abstract Why did the U.S. war in Afghanistan last so long, and why did it end? In contrast to conventional arguments about partisanship, geopolitics, and elite pressures, a new theory of war duration suggests that strategic narratives best answer these questions. The severity and frequency of attacks by al-Qaeda and the Islamic State across most of the 2000s and 2010s generated and sustained a robust collective narrative across the United States focused on combatting terrorism abroad. Audience costs of inaction generated by this narrative pushed President Barack Obama (2009) and President Donald Trump (2017) to not only sustain but increase troops in Afghanistan, against their better judgement. Strategic narratives also explain the end to the war. The defeat of the ISIS caliphate and a significant reduction in the number of attacks on liberal democratic states in the late 2010s caused the severity and frequency of traumatic events to fall below the threshold necessary to sustain a robust anti-terrorism narrative. As the narrative weakened, advocates for war in Afghanistan lost political salience, while those pressing retrenchment gained leverage over policy. Audience costs for inaction declined and President Joe Biden ended the war (2021). As President Biden seeks to rebalance U.S. commitments for an era of new strategic challenges, an active offshore counterterrorism program will be necessary to maintain this balance.

Victories and Losses of the USA and Russia in Asymmetric Conflicts at 21st Century

The article discusses the features of armed confl icts at the beginning of the 21st century through the prism of the theory of asymmetric confl ict. Within the framework of the theory, basic and accompanying asymmetries are distinguished, which determine the reasons for the political, rather than military, defeat of developed countries in wars against relatively weak opponents. At the beginning of the 21st century most of the armed confl icts have pronounced signs of multiple asymmetries that aff ect the course and outcome of confl icts. On the basis of the theory, several important aspects can be distinguished that should be taken into account by the military and politicians when planning and conducting military operations. Among them: the legitimacy of military operations from the point of view of international law, neutralization of anti-war sentiments, minimization of losses of military personnel, ensuring the safety of the population in the war zone. Foreign analytics is characterized by a focus on the reasons for the failures of the United States and other Western states in military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. Among the reasons for the failures are a lack of understanding of the culture and characteristics of the countries where hostilities are conducted, the regime of occupation, and attempts at nation-building. Some foreign experts note that the Russian Federation is much more successful in participating in asymmetric confl icts of the 21st century. Among Russian military experts, there is a noticeable interest in developing an “asymmetric war” strategy in the framework of the geopolitical confrontation with the countries of the West. The tendency to develop non-contact methods of warfare and the involvement of private military companies to neutralize anti-war sentiments and minimize losses of military personnel has a universal character. At the same time, the problem of non-selectivity of such methods of warfare and their compliance with international law is becoming more and more acute. The theory of asymmetric confl ict is a theory of international relations, which main assumptions are are useful for politicians and the military to take into account in the process of deciding on the start of hostilities and the possibility of achieving political goals by military means, and not just for fi nding victorious strategies in asymmetric confl icts.

Continuity and Novelty in the Policy of George W. Bush in regard to Post Soviet Integration (2001–2005)

The status of the winner in the Cold War, the overcoming of the socio-economic crisis in the country, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 led to the active foreign policy of George W. Bush in various regions of the world. The article considers the main features of the policy of George W. Bush in regard to post-Soviet integration, their connection with the approaches of George H. W. Bush and W. Clinton. Washington&amp;apos;s position went through the stages of complete but cautious acceptance under George H. W. Bush, approval only of economic integration under W. Clinton, non-acceptance under George W. Bush, which was associated with the assessment of initiatives as political (Russia&amp;apos;s intention to dominate the region). With the Russian Federation George W. Bush used the approach of George H. W. Bush and W. Clinton: it is necessary to make Russia the «engine» of democracy in the region, but not only through reforms, but also through Western structures, primarily NATO. If democratic change was the criterion for the United States assistance and friendly relations with the newly independent states in the 1990s, then under George W. Bush such an indicator was the intention of a country to fight terrorism. This context was developed from the idea of W. Clinton «only surrounded by democracies will democracy survive in the United States». After the September 11 attacks the attention of the United States to the Central Asian republics of the former USSR increased. George W. Bush continued to develop the integration project that originated under W. Clinton – the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development (GUAM). In that way, the main difference between the foreign policy of George W. Bush from the George H. W. Bush and W. Clinton became its activity and interventionist character. There is a conceptually new discourse regard to the post-Soviet space and integration processes in the region, but the strategy was based on concepts that originated under the 41st and 42nd US presidents. After the September 11, 2001 attacks Washington&amp;apos;s attention in the post-Soviet region focused on the Central Asian countries and Russian-American relations, and the fight against terrorism became a tool and justification for a selective approach in relations with other states. The United States continued to support the idea of democratic messianism, despite the paramount importance of military operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East, continued to monitor reforms in the former Soviet republics and the regional situation, sharply criticizing integration projects that would strengthen Russia&amp;apos;s position. In the early 2000s even economic integration began to be seen as political projects that do not meet the interests of the United States. George W. Bush supported the ideas of George H. W. Bush and W. Clinton according to which the newly independent states must be integrated into the Western community through such structures as NATO and the WTO, and the American integration project – GUAM was preserved. First of all, Russia should have been included in the Western structures, after which, due to its geopolitical influence in the region, the rest of the countries should have followed.

The Criminalization of War Crimes in Italy and the Shortcomings of the Domestic Legal Framework

Abstract The Italian domestic legal framework related to war crimes is characterised by several shortcomings. It is still largely centred on the provisions present in the 1941 wartime military criminal code, which have not been subjected to substantial legal restyling, regardless of the explicit and implicit obligations of domestic criminalization inferred from treaties ratified by Italy. Only in 2001–2002, at the time of Italian military operations in Afghanistan, were certain amendments to this code introduced, in order to partly adapt its content to current rules of international humanitarian law and international criminal law. However, such solutions have not brought about effective harmonization and were drafted within an incoherent legal framework, made even more complex by subsequent reforms addressing military missions abroad, thus resulting in the current unsatisfactory scenario which would require substantive reforms.

Serious Inhalation Injuries From Military Operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.

To characterize serious inhalation injuries seen during recent military operations, and assess whether bronchoscopic severity findings were associated with clinical presentation and outcomes. Service members who suffered inhalation injuries while deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, or Syria from 2001-2018 were identified using ICD-9 and 10 codes from the Expeditionary Medical Encounter Database (EMED), which is abstracted from patient records in forward-deployed medical facilities. Further information including demographics, mechanism of injury, mortality, total burn surface area (TBSA), degree of facial burn, total Injury Severity Score (ISS), and first post-injury bronchoscopy notes were collected. Patients were excluded with ISS less than 16 or without sufficient details regarding bronchoscopy. Injuries were grouped based on bronchoscopic Abbreviated Injury Scores (AIS) into low-grade (AIS of 1), moderate-grade (AIS of 2), or high-grade (AIS of 3 or 4). 91 patients met inclusion criteria, with no significant differences in age, gender, paygrade, or service branch between degrees of injury. There were no statistical correlations between grade of injury and battle versus non-battle injury, blast versus non-blast mechanism, TBSA, or degree of facial burn. High-grade injuries had significantly higher ISS than low or moderate-grade injuries. After adjusting for ISS, the odds ratio of death was 10.4 (95% CI 1.47 to 74.53) for those with high-grade and 3.7 (95% CI 0.45 to 32.30) for those with moderate-grade compared to low-grade injuries. In this cohort of deployed military members with inhalation injuries, initial bronchoscopic severity findings are strongly associated with mortality even after adjusting for ISS. The AIS may be an important prognostic tool in all of those with serious inhalation injuries.

Prolonged deployed hospital care in the management of military eye injuries.

Prolonged hospital care is described as deployed medical care, applied beyond doctrinal planning timelines and military medical planning envisages that in future conflicts, patients will have to be managed for up to 5 days without evacuation to their home country. We aimed to investigate the effect of prolonged hospital care on visual outcomes in the management of open and closed globe injures. We conducted a retrospective cohort study in the setting of British military operations in Afghanistan. We included consecutive UK military patients with ocular trauma evacuated from Afghanistan between December 2005 and April 2013. We assessed outcome using best-corrected visual acuity (VA) 6-12 months after injury. All patients were male, with a mean age of 25. Outcomes adjusted for ocular trauma score (OTS) at presentation were similar to previous reports of military ocular trauma. The mean time to arrival at a centre with an ophthalmologist was 1.74 days. Both patients with penetrating open globe injuries and patients with hyphaema and an OTS of 3 or less displayed an association between worsening 6-12 month VA and time between injury and repair or assessment by an ophthalmologist. Time to specialist ophthalmic care contributes to outcome after military open and closed globe injuries, supporting deployment of ophthalmologists on military operations.

ON SOME FEATURES OF THE US POLICY IN CENTRAL ASIA

An attempt is made in the article to identify and analyze some aspects of the US foreign strategy in Central Asia which, in the authors opinion, although in one form or another are touched upon in the domestic political science, can nevertheless be interpreted from a new angle, subjecting the existing interpretations to a certain re-evaluation and adjustment. Washingtons policy in the region is viewed in a broader context, Central Asia is considered an integral part of Eurasia. The main attention is focused on the justification of the thesis that in the 90s of the last century the United States claimed to be the main actor occupying the dominant position in Eurasia as a whole and Central Asia in particular, but due to a number of factors failed to reach that aim. After analyzing the activities of the US administration in using the territory of the five countries as a springboard for the military operations in Afghanistan, it is concluded that from the beginning of the war until recently, the possibilities of achieving goals sought by Washington in the region gradually narrowed. It is shown that the situation was determined both by Russias return to the region as a great military and political power and emergence of such a new powerful actor as China, as well as by the mistakes and miscalculations of the US leadership.

Nuclear Doctrine and Deterrence Stability in South Asia

South Asia possesses strategic importance as home to two nuclear-weapon states (NWS) and is also of interest to global powers. The U.S. and the former USSR were interested in expanding their influence in South Asia. After the Cold War, the war against terrorism again drew the attention of the U.S. to conduct military operations in Afghanistan. Pakistan and India received worldwide attention when both developed nuclear capabilities in May 1998 after adopting the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Consequently, the Kashmir dispute emerged as a nuclear flashpoint. In this paper, an investigation is carried out involving the role of nuclear doctrine required to establish deterrence stability in post-nuclearization South Asia.

Military and civilian handover communication in emergency care: how does it differ?

There is a growing body of literature on handover communication between prehospital and hospital receiving teams in civilian emergency care settings but little is known about how this differs from handover in the UK military medical services. This literature review shows that civilian handover is a complex process conducted in less-than-ideal circumstances, and it is affected by human behaviour and patient factors. There is a debate around standardisation including the use of the Mechanism, Injury or Illness, Signs, Treatment (MIST) mnemonic. There is limited understanding of how this mnemonic was used by the UK military, how it was developed to deal with specific patient characteristics or in the context of military operations in Afghanistan within which it evolved. Advancements in clinical practice made during conflict are ancillary to military objectives and should be supported by an evidence base before being transferred to civilian health care.

Network Centric Warfare dan Perang Asimetris di Afghanistan

The development of information technology in the world in the last few decades has made the United States (US) develop military doctrine based on information technology called "warfare network centric". When the US invades Afghanistan as part of the global war against terrorism the doctrine of "network centric warfare" is tested to overcome the conditions of asymmetrical warfare in Afghanistan with the ability to superior information and the use of force in use that can compensate for Taliban fighting and Al-Qaeda is organized by not being hierarchically structured. In conditions of balanced strategic interaction in the conditions of asymmetrical warfare, the US should be able to neutralize Al-Qaeda and the Taliban easily and quickly but the disparities that occur in asymmetric warfare in Afghanistan not only in military strength but also in status, ideological and structural disparities the aim of military operations in Afghanistan has not been fully achieved by the US and has made the war last long.

Ocena poziomu zagrożenia terroryzmem w krajach Unii Europejskiej z wykorzystaniem GTI

Celem artykułu była prezentacja sposobu konstruowania miernika GTI wykorzystywanego do wielowymiarowej oceny zagrożenia terroryzmem. Następnie przy użyciu metody Warda zidentyfikowano grupę krajów UE podobnych pod względem zagrożenia terroryzmem. Szczególną uwagę zwrócono na pozycję Polski, która z powodu aktywnego udziału w działaniach militarnych w Afganistanie i Iraku czy rozmieszczenia wojsk amerykańskich może być celem ataku terrorystycznego. Z przeprowadzonych analiz wynika, że Polska znajduje się w grupie krajów o najmniejszym zagrożeniu terroryzmem, jednak zagrożenia tego nie można lekceważyć.

Murder on Maneuver: Exploring Green-on-Blue Attacks in Afghanistan

Green-on-blue attacks have a devastating psychological, tactical, and operational effect on military operations in Afghanistan. In spite of this, no empirical research has offered a data-driven examination of these attacks, leaving a gap that this article aims to address. By analyzing a large (yet inevitability incomplete) open-source database developed on these attacks, we present data on the perpetrators and victims of these attacks. We also investigate whether green-on-blue attacks are related to the number of civilian casualties in that area; finding that (unlike wider insurgent violence) they are not. Instead, we find that it is the number of troops present within a Regional Command that is positively correlated with the likelihood that a green-on-blue attack will occur. We discuss the implications of these findings with reference to future issues of force protection.

U.S. Military Operations in Afghanistan: Sun Tzu’s View on Opportunities and Challenges

U.S. Military Operations in Afghanistan: Sun Tzu’s View on Opportunities and Challenges

The success of battlefield surgical airway insertion in severely injured military patients: a UK perspective

BackgroundThe insertion of a surgical airway in the presence of severe airway compromise is an uncommon occurrence in everyday civilian practice. In conflict, the requirement for insertion of a surgical...

Proud to be an American?: The Changing Relationship of National Pride and Identity

AbstractThe attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001 and subsequent military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq created a sharp increase in expressions of national pride and the invocation of “nation” in political discourse. Using the 1996 and 2004 General Social Surveys, we document these changing patterns of national pride, and ask how they affect conceptions of national identity. We report three main findings. First, the data corroborate the conventional wisdom that there was a greater expression of national pride than before September 11, 2001. Second, conceptions of American national identity became more nativist. Finally, the conventionally accepted distinction between patriots and nationalists has shrunk; patriots, like nationalists, are more likely to express nativist conceptions of national identity during a time of threat than they were pre-9/11. Our findings have important implications for research on group identification and national identity formation.

Contemporary Afghanistan Outlook: Between Counterinsurgency and Search of the Social Contract

Abstract This article is based on reassessment of the contemporary results of counterinsurgency and nation-building in Afghanistan. Nation-building initiatives have been started in the country since the Bonn agreement in December 2001. This agreement brought into reality the current governing system of Afghanistan. Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan has been initiated in full mode since 2009 after a sound success on Iraqi frontier. However, each operational area is bringing its own specifics into play. The same was with Afghanistan. The newly established constitutional presidential republic has faced with inheritance of unresolved sensitive ethnical identity issues, confrontation between different groups for self-governing authority and security of essential resources. These preconditions have brought a diversified and even confrontational social environment into reality. Prolonged military operations in Afghanistan could show that diversified social environment and misevaluated cultural heritage has led to misleading assumptions that centralized presidential governing system could become an effective ruling model for post-Taliban country. One of the key notions of this article is that historical lessons taught by long years of colonialist rule in Afghanistan has not been learned and misevaluation of diversified and confrontational local entities has brought another historical lesson of Afghan tribal resistance. More than that, diversified and confrontational entities of Afghanistan have not been a favorable subject for possible social contract. The term social contract was introduced as explanatory method of national political behavior and systemic structure by Jean Jacques Rousseau in 18th century Europe. Afghan society has become the subject to this model of political philosophy only as counterinsurgency campaign gained full capabilities around 2009. Reassessment of long term nation building efforts in this article is based on evaluation of Afghan social contract’s progress.