Publication

Based on the results of recorded interviews with approximately three hundred Americans and Afghans with direct knowledge of Afghanistan's Pech Valley, this paper provides an overview of US military involvement in the valley between 2002 and 2013. In particular, the author describes 1) the difficulties experienced by US forces who initially entered the area in 2002-2004; 2) the challenges they faced in dealing with insurgency there between 2004-2011; and 3) the problems they had with handing over responsibility for security to the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).