You wouldn’t be surprised that the Ghazi force, and not the Taliban, are behind recent attacks in Pakistan’s capital city if you knew the story of the Red Mosque and its late leader.
The Red Mosque Was Pakistan’s Waco
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War & Peace
The Land Where Theories of Warfare Go to Die: Obama, Petraeus, and the Cult of COIN in Afghanistan
In December, when Obama decided (for the second time in 2009) to add tens of thousands of additional American forces to the war, he also slapped an 18-month deadline on the military to turn the situation around and begin handing security over to the bedraggled Afghan National Army and police. Speaking to the nation from West Point, Obama said that he’d ordered American forces to start withdrawing from Afghanistan at that time.
Patraeus Circles Two Camps
Nearly a week after the abrupt departure of Washington’s top commander in Afghanistan, United States strategy for reversing the flood of bad news that has been recently pouring out of that strife-torn country remains as unclear as ever.
Here We Go With the Pallets of Cash Again (Remember Paul Bremer?)
On the heels of the firing of Gen. McChrystal, the $3 billion in cash openly flown out of Kabul International Airport in the past three years provides further impetus for the drawdown of our troops from Afghanistan.
A Confirmation for Petraeus Is a Confirmation of the Surge Narrative
Ever since the surge narrative took root, there has been little public debate about the situation in Iraq. Thus, it is no surprise that, instead of an ongoing conflict, Iraq figured into the Petraeus confirmation hearings as an historical event.
U.S. Hijacks ICC conference
The United States managed to foil the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) adoption of the crime of aggression as part of its mandate during this month’s review conference in Kampala, Uganda. But the U.S. presence at the conference demonstrates a new engagement with the ICC, and the Obama administration’s interest in helping to shape international law.
The Guns of August in the Middle East?
Israel risks painting itself into a corner with its talk of preemptive strikes against Iran. Meanwhile, Iran once again finds itself the odd man out in the shopworn Israel-Iran-Arab triangulation game.
Burma’s Junta Built to Last
Whether or not Myanmar holds elections this year, democracy seems to be a mirage on the horizon. The military is geared to remain in power for the foreseeable future.
Afghanistan by the Book — THE Book, That Is
If Afghanistan is, in fact, a COIN engagement then the Obama administration should be using the best available COIN guidelines to assess it. Towards that end, the author has taken the liberty of extracting key points from Gen. Petraeus’s seminal work on the subject, Field Manual 3-24, to use as metrics.
Would You Trust a Country That Named Its First Nuke Test ‘Smiling Buddha’?
Not only does India refuse to sign disarmament treaties such as the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, it’s also developing anti-satellite systems.