Minor FSO Resigns, Panic Ensues
An incredibly junior foreign service officer has resigned over disagreement with our AfPak policy, prompting a high level scramble within the administration and a long feature in the Washington Post. As I wrote in "While Obama Dithers," a piece for New Atlanticist, They've brought this on themselves. Granted, President Obama inherited this war and his people may have fought it differently had ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on October 27, 2009 09:04
Thought of the Day: Afghanistan Edition
When Thomas Friedman loses faith in a war, it's time to give up. It would be one thing if the people we were fighting with and for represented everything the Taliban did not: decency, respect for women’s rights and education, respect for the rule of law and democratic values and rejection of drug-dealing. But they do not. Too many in this ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on September 7, 2009 09:40
Guardian: No Nation-Building in Afghanistan!
The Guardian has come out against the current conduct of the war in Afghanistan: The empty rhetoric has to stop. State-building from the ramp of a Chinook is a fantasy, a folie de grandeur. The war against militants will not be won by expanding the battle-space. The resolution to this "good war'' will not come from Kabul alone, but will be ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 23, 2009 12:01
Preventative Detention
Hilzoy pronounces herself "happy as a clam" with President Obama's speech yesterday on national security issues, with one glaring exception: But even when this process is complete, there may be a number of people who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes, in some cases because evidence may be tainted, but who nonetheless pose a threat to the security of the United ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 22, 2009 08:20
How Safe Are Pakistan’s Nukes?
"[I]f Pakistan collapses, the U.S. military is primed to enter the country and secure as many of those weapons as it can, according to U.S. officials," report's TIME's Mark Thompson burying his lede three paragraphs into a story whose headline asks, "Does Pakistan's Taliban Surge Raise a Nuclear Threat?" As I explain in my New Atlanticist piece "U.S. Prepared to Secure ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 24, 2009 15:52
Germany Is Concerned About Pakistan
Germany is concerned about the Taliban fighters nearing Pakistan's Islamabad capital: BERLIN, April 24 (Reuters) - Germany expressed concern on Friday at the advance of Taliban fighters towards Pakistan's capital and urged the government in Islamabad to take decisive action to ensure the security situation did not deteriorate. Taliban militants have pushed closer to the capital in recent days, vowing to impose ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 24, 2009 10:07
What To Do About Pakistan?
This morning Bill Roggio is reporting that the Pakistani government has moved paramilitary forces, potentially to oppose Taliban forces should they advance on the capital: Islamabad officials have moved paramilitary forces to block a potential Taliban advance into the nation's capital as US officials question Pakistan’s ability to stop the creeping insurgency. Islamabad's deputy commissioner and its senior police official said they ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 24, 2009 09:01
Torture Worked! Foiled Los Angeles Attack! Yay Torture!
After several days of inflamed public debate following official confirmation that the United States government tortured suspected terrorists under specific authorization from the Bush administration, the inevitable pushback has begun. Several reports now suggest that these extreme interrogation techniques had the desired effect, yielding valuable intelligence that saved lives. The most interesting of these, alas, comes from CNS and is headlined ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 22, 2009 07:42
Taliban Claim Responsibility for Binghamton Shootings
On Tuesday, Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud responded to a $5 million reward for his arrest by threatening terrorist attacks in America. "You can't imagine how we could avenge this threat inside Washington, inside the White House," Reuters quoted him as saying. Today, he's claiming responsibility for yesterday's shooting spree in Binghamton, New York. The diminutive Mehsud is considered the prime ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 4, 2009 06:19
French Surrendering in Afghanistan?
French defense minister Bernard Kouchner said yesterday that “We should accept the result of the forthcoming elections whatever it is," adding, “If nationalist-minded Taliban come to power through the ballot-box and respect the constitution, that is the Afghans’ business.” To be sure, he added an important caveat: “What we reject is support for international jihad.” Still, as I ask in my ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 10, 2009 07:25
Moderate Taliban an Oxymoron?
In my New Atlanticist piece "Who Are the 'Moderate' Taliban?," I round up the reactions to President Obama's weekend promise to "reach out to moderate elements of the Taliban" and note that they're almost uniformly negative. On the surface, "moderate Taliban" sounds as nonsensical are "nonviolent terrorist" or "tolerant Nazi." Still, as Steve Hynd recently pointed out, the term "Taliban" is tossed ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 9, 2009 14:14
California Arrests al Qaeda Suspect Ahmadullah Sais Niazi
Rusty Shackleford is hot on the trail of an Afghani arrested in California for lying about his lack of association with terrorists. The indictment, unsealed this morning, alleges [34 year old Ahmadullah Sais] Niazi hid associations with "Specially Designated Global Terrorists," groups including Al Qaeda, Hizb-i-Islami and the Taliban, when he completed nationalization papers five years ago. During one visit, the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 20, 2009 16:55
Beating Al Qaeda But Losing in Afghanistan?
My New Atlanticist post "Beating Al Qaeda But Losing in Afghanistan?" rounds up several major reports coming out today, the gist of which are: Our military strikes against al Qaeda have been so successful that a "complete al Qaeda defeat" is on the horizon. We're finally killing their leaders faster than they can replace them. Our human intelligence in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 3, 2009 15:41
Obama Continues Pakistan Policy He Recommended
My New Atlanticist essay "Obama Orders Pakistan Drone Attacks" notes that, While President Obama has sent some major signals in his first days in office that his foreign policy will differ from President Bush's, he sent one yesterday demonstrating continuity on a very key issue: targeting al Qaeda and Taliban militants in Pakistan's tribal areas. This should surprise no one, however, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on January 24, 2009 07:59
Why Afgan Marshall Plan Won’t Work
In the comments to my "Taliban Retaking Afghanistan" post, commenter King Politics asked, "Can anyone answer why we didn't embark on a Marshall Plan-style rebuilding effort of Afghanistan in 2003-04?" In today's Independent, former Afghan finance minister Ashraf Ghani makes a similar call. My New Atlanticist essay "A Marshall Plan for Afghanistan?" I argue that the circumstances are simply too different. ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 29, 2008 08:31
