Opportunity to Showcase Long-Term Commitment to Afghanistan
The long-awaited NATO Summit being held in Chicago next week with more than 60 heads of state and government in attendance will focus much of… Read More
Seven Terrorist Groups Affiliated with al-Qaeda
Recently certain experts opined that the war on terrorism is over. This statement is ludicrous. It is true that al-Qaeda Central (AQ) has been badly… Read More
Taking on the Taliban Online
Somebody hacked a Taliban website. Big surprise. Actually, no surprise. No surprise that the Taliban and other terrorists groups are online. When the issues of… Read More
Afghanistan: Negotiating While Withdrawing Is Poor Strategy
In the wake of a U.S. Army staff sergeant’s murdering 16 Afghan civilians (mostly women and children), U.S. officials are contemplating the pace and scope… Read More
Alleged Killings by American Soldier Rattle Afghanistan
Details are still emerging on the killings of 16 Afghan civilians by a U.S. soldier in Kandahar province. U.S. officials call it an isolated incident… Read More
NATO Report Indicates Taliban Plotting Power Grab
In a secret NATO report recently leaked to the British media, Taliban insurgents told their interrogators that they are increasingly confident that the Taliban will… Read More
Taliban’s Momentum Slowed but not “Broken,” Mr. President
During Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, President Obama largely glossed over the ongoing war in Afghanistan, where nearly 100,000 American soldiers are fighting… Read More
Getting the Facts Straight on the Taliban
The relationship between the Taliban and al-Qaeda was one of the hot topics of Monday night’s presidential debate. Candidate Ron Paul downplayed the dangers of… Read More
Taliban Prisoner Release A Premature, Dangerously Naive Move
The British newspaper The Guardian has reported that the U.S. has agreed in principle to release high-ranking Taliban officials from Guantanamo Bay in return for… Read More
Morning Bell: Biden Says Taliban Is Not Our Enemy
On a Saturday in late October in Kabul, Afghanistan, a car carrying explosives rammed into an armored U.S. military bus, killing 13 Americans, including five… Read More
Istanbul Conference: Lacking Substance
Vague platitudes, rather than meaningful solutions, dominated last week’s international conference on Afghanistan held in Turkey’s capital, Istanbul. Conference participants, including Pakistan, Iran, India, China,… Read More
Afghanistan Report’s Call for International Negotiator Unrealistic
The recently released Century Foundation International Task Force report on Afghanistan titled “Afghanistan: Negotiating Peace” usefully sketches out the myriad issues surrounding the challenges of… Read More
Guest Blogger: Americans Must Remain Vigilant as Terrorists Seek to Attack ‘Soft’ Targets
In the past week, military excursions into the tribal regions of Pakistan targeted Islamist militants believed to have connections to a number of plots designed… Read More
Take Off Rose-Colored Glasses when it comes to Taliban Reconciliation
Before concluding that today’s New York Times article on Taliban outreach to Karzai means that an Afghan settlement is on the horizon, consider today’s other… Read More
General Petraeus Lays out Clear Benchmarks on Afghanistan
General Petraeus laid out clear-cut benchmarks that would indicate signs of progress with the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan in the lead up to the December… Read More
Missed Opportunities in the Oval Office
Unfortunately, President Obama missed a valuable opportunity tonight to demonstrate that he is fully committed to success in Afghanistan. Instead he stubbornly reiterated his July… Read More
Senate Hearing Cautions Administration on Timelines and Taliban Reconciliation
“Can we improve the Afghanistan Government? Maybe. Can we do it by July 2011? No.” This statement came from Dr. David Kilcullen, an expert in… Read More
A Newsless Wikileak: New Afghan Strategy Still Sound
The posting of over 90,000 classified US government documents by Wikileaks has raised fresh questions about the US strategy in Afghanistan. Leaking of classified information,… Read More
Five Recommendations for David Cameron
David Cameron’s visit to the United States this week offers the prime minister a major opportunity to assert a stronger British presence on the world… Read More
Need for U.S. Leadership on Afghanistan-Pakistan Reconciliation
A front-page story on Afghan-Pakistani relations in today’s Washington Post indicates that Afghanistan and Pakistan are discussing a peace settlement for Afghanistan. While a genuine… Read More
Will the Taliban Learn a Lesson From Hamas?
Heritage Middle East analyst Jim Phillips makes a pretty good case that the Israeli confrontation with a convoy at sea bound for Gaza was a… Read More
Pakistan Attack Plans – What Is Wrong With This Picture?
According to Reuters, “U.S. military leaders are reviewing options for a unilateral strike in Pakistan if there is a successful attack on American soil tied… Read More
SecurityNews
Failed Times Square Car Bombing, Another Terror Plot Averted?
Saturday at 6:30 p.m., authorities were alerted that a Nissan Pathfinder was billowing smoke in the middle of Times Square, New York City. Upon investigation,… Read More
Pakistan Could Help Turn Tide in Afghanistan
After months of mounting frustration with Pakistan over its unwillingness to crack down on Afghan Taliban leaders finding sanctuary on its soil, Pakistan appears to… Read More
Taliban Leader Capture Suggests Pakistan Strategy Shift
The recent capture of the number two Afghan Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Bahadur in Pakistan is a blow to the Afghan Taliban and their ability… Read More
The President Looks Inward
In publicizing the President’s State of the Union address, Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett announced that one of the achievements of which the administration was most… Read More
Gates’ Visit Bolsters U.S.-India Security Ties
As the Taliban assaulted Kabul, Defense Secretary Gates made an important visit to India, the South Asian giant whose partnership is critical to stabilizing the… Read More
Obama’s Afghanistan Numbers Not Adding Up
The Washington Post’s David Ignatius reports from Afghanistan: I asked Lt Gen. David Rodriquez, the No. 2 US commander here, in a briefing tonight how… Read More
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke on the new EU Foreign Minister: Catherine Who?
The ramifications of the EU’s disastrous choice of Catherine Ashton for its first full-time Foreign Minister are going from bad to worse. Following a less-than-stellar… Read More
Taliban Out-Surging Us in Information War
A glaring omission in President Obama’s speech Tuesday was any attempt to address the propaganda war that is currently being waged with increasing sophistication and… Read More
