Lessons From Iraq, Afghanistan: Why The U.S. Got It So Wrong

NEW DELHI: Despite its military might and cutting-edge technology, why did the United States suffer huge reverses in the wars it launched in Iraq and Afghanistan? Was it faulty planning, poor strategy or just plain refusal to adapt to changes on the ground? Retired U.S. Army colonel Christopher D. Kolenda, the first American to have fought the Taliban as a commander in combat and negotiated with them in peace talks, blames it on the fixation on zero-sum victories. On ‘Books Corner’, he’s in conversation with StratNews Global Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale about his just launched book ‘Zero-Sum Victory: What We’re Getting Wrong About War’.