Post Pic

How Obama Lost Afghanistan

The Taliban reconquest of Afghanistan would be even more disastrous than its previous reign of terror… Read more

Post Pic

New Moderates! Syrian Rebels, Iranian President, and the Taliban!

To get a picture of current U.S. Middle East policy just imagine a “Cold War” in which the United States would side with the Communists… Continue reading

Post Pic

Turkey’s Leadership Ambitions in NATO Weakened by Petty Politics

NATO’s May 20-21 heads-of-state summit in Chicago reminded everyone how Turkey is making important contributions to NATO in many key areas… Continue reading

Post Pic

Can Afghanistan Be Rescued?

U.S. president Barack Obama entered office with a bold plan to combat Afghanistan’s escalating insurgency… Continue reading

Post Pic

Obama: Please Apologize for Burning American Credibility

It should be obvious by now that President Barack Obama and his administration don’t know some basic things about the conduct of international relations… Continue reading

Post Pic

Rethinking U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan

As U.S. military operations in Afghanistan drag on inconclusively, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the Taliban insurgency is gaining ground… Continue reading

Post Pic

More than Half of Afghans See Western Alliance as Occupiers

More than 50 percent of Afghans see the Western Alliance (ISAF / NATO) as occupying forces… Continue reading

Post Pic

FM Zalmai Rassoul Addresses the General Debate of the 66th Session of the General Assembly

We Afghans are proud to have partnered, over the past ten years, with the world’s struggle against terrorism… Continue reading

Post Pic

Ten Years After September 11: Who’s Really Winning the War On Terrorism

Ten years after September 11, 2001, when the very phrase “war on terrorism” is barred from U.S. government usage by the president… Continue reading

Post Pic

Profile of Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s Heir as Leader of Al-Qaeda

On June 16 Al-Qaeda announced that after a period of consultations, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri had been appointed as Osama bin Laden’s heir… Continue reading

Post Pic

The Obama Administration’s “Mission Accomplished” Fallacy in the War on Terrorism

Leon Panetta, leaving the CIA directorship post to become secretary of defense, and General David Petraeus, leaving the job of commander… Continue reading

Post Pic

Afghanistan: Deal With the Taliban The Basis for U.S. Withdrawal?

Ahmad Rashid is widely considered to be the best journalist on Afghan and related Pakistani issues… Continue reading

Post Pic

Seinfeld’s Advice for Obama Administration Policy: Do the Opposite

Just your normal Middle East policy day in which every instinct the Obama administration has is wrong… Continue reading

Post Pic

What Obama Didn’t-And What We Should-Learn From The War In Afghanistan

I am in favor of a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, but I was fascinated with how President Barack Obama handled the issue… Continue reading

Post Pic

President Obama’s “Reset” of Relations with Muslims and a Massacre in Pakistan

There’s something particularly poignant about news that at least 80 people were killed in Charsadda, Pakistan, by a Taliban attack on a… Continue reading

Post Pic

U.S. Pushes Pakistani Intelligence to the Wall

The Obama administration is presenting the successful Osama bin Laden hit as an epic American solo operation, unparalleled in… Continue reading

Post Pic

WikiLeaks: Cables Portray Hamid Karzai as Weak and Corrupt

Diplomats describe Afghan president as weak, indecisive, paranoid and beholden to criminals to maintain power… Continue reading

Post Pic

WikiLeaks: Iran Undermining U.S. Efforts in Afghanistan and Training Taliban Militants

Iran is financing a range of Afghan religious and political leaders, grooming Afghan religious scholars, training Taliban militants and… Continue reading

Post Pic

WikiLeaks: Afghan and U.S. Contempt for British Military

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Helmand governor and US commander criticise UK failure to impose security and engage with Afghans… Continue reading

Post Pic

WikiLeaks: Peace Negotiations Only Option for Afghanistan?

The remarkably moderate private views of a group of former Taliban regime officials are revealed in detail by the US embassy cables… Continue reading

Post Pic

WikiLeaks: Afghanistan’s Insurgents will Readily Fill any Vacuums of Governance

There are sobering lessons to be drawn from the Alasay Valley in Southern Kapisa, where the strategic dynamics have shifted back in favor of the insurgency… Continue reading

Post Pic

WikiLeaks: No Power-Sharing with the Taliban, Holbrooke pledges

In a January 18 meeting with Richard Holbrooke, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao described the Indian effort in Afghanistan as focused on… Continue reading

Post Pic

WikiLeaks: Deradicalisation Programme Would ‘Undercut the Taliban’

President Karzai told Holbrooke January 16 [2010] that he wants to announce a reintegration policy before… Continue reading

Post Pic

WikiLeaks: Allies Find Briefing on Afghanistan “Gloomy”

U.S. National Intelligence Officer (NiO) for South Asia, Dr. Peter Lavoy, briefed NATO Permanent Representatives on the National Intelligence Estimate… Continue reading

Post Pic

WikiLeaks: Afghan Tribal Elders Threaten to ‘Fight NATO like the Soviets’

US diplomats in Afghanistan continually warned that night raids against insurgents by special forces had dramatically eroded public support for the Nato mission… Continue reading