Insurgents, accidental guerrillas and valley-ism: an oral history of oppositional US soldiers' attitudes toward the enemy in Afghanistan

Abstract

In recent years Western policy towards Afghanistan has been marked by inconsistencies and errors. This article explores United States (US) soldiers' perceptions of the enemy in Afghanistan based on oral history interviews with dissenting combat soldiers who served in the Afghan theatre. By foregrounding soldiers' attitudes towards the enemy, this study includes marginalized voices, often overlooked, that challenge prevailing misconceptions. General David Petraeus, the former commander of US forces in Afghanistan, has argued that significant battlefield decisions are not reserved for generals alone. Petraeus' counterinsurgency programme promotes ‘strategic corporals’ whose decisions hold important consequences. If strategic corporals are involved in military decision-making, it follows that their interpretation of the conflict may also hold strategic implications for the researcher. Soldiers' views of war are not the final, authoritative verdict. However, this article suggests that these strategic corporals should be included in a complex matrix of interpretation to broaden US understanding of the enemy.

Notes

¹ The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, ‘Overview of the Afghanistan and Pakistan Annual Review’, < http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/12/16/overview-afghanistan-and-pakistan-annual-review>.

² Nathan Toth, interview by author, 9 December 2010.

³ Jacob George, interview by author, 16 December 2010.

⁴ Author interview of Matthew Hoh, 14 January 2011. Matthew Hoh, letter to Ambassador Nancy J Powell, in author's possession.

⁵ Brock McIntosh, interview by author, 22 December 2010.

⁶ Jacob George, interview by author, 16 December 2010.

⁷ Stan Morincini, interview by author, 10 January 2011.

⁸ Stan Morincini, interview by author, 10 January 2011

⁹ Douglas Tudor, interview by author, 29 December 2010.

¹⁰ Alenjandro Villataro, interview by author, 25 November 2011.

¹¹ Alenjandro Villataro, interview by author, 25 November 2011

¹² Jake Diliberto, interview by author, 15 January 2011

¹³ Alejandro Villataro, interview by author, 25 November 2011.

¹⁴ Alejandro Villataro, interview by author, 25 November 2011

¹⁵ Brock McIntosh, interview by author, 22 December 2010.

¹⁶ UNAMA, ‘Afghan civilian casualties rise 31 per cent in first six months of 2010’, UNMA Featured News, < http://www.unama.unmissions.org>. The report noted 3268 civilian casualties and 1271 deaths from January to June 2010. These dates coincide with the Afghanistan ‘surge’ policy and the highest numbers of deaths were in the south; a particular focus of the surge was initially in Marja in Helmand province in the south. UNAMA, ‘Press statements: mid-year report 2011—protection of civilians in armed conflict—14 July’, < http://unama.unmissions.org>, accessed 5 October 2011.

¹⁷ Jacob George, interview by author, 16 December 2010.

¹⁸ Brock McIntosh, interview by author, 22 December 2010; Nathan Toth, interview by author, 9 December 2010.