Here is a great article in Foreign Policy that compares Afghanistan’s Taliban movement to the Bloods and Crips and other urban gangs here in the US. The author notes similar structures and similar motivations, and then discusses successful methods that urban police departments have used to reduce gang violence, and how they could be applicable in the deserts of Afghanistan.
Interesting fact: as part of counterinsurgency training, US Marines from Camp Pendleton are embedding with Los Angeles cops to see anti-gang policing in action.
Extra shout out: for the headline Straight Outta Kandahar.
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