All Bases Covered?
India, a rising power, almost had one (but the Tajiks said no). China, which last year became the world's second largest economy as well as the planet's leading energy consumer, and is expanding abroad like mad (largely via trade and the power of the purse), still has...
The Urge to Surge
Gimme More Magna Carta!
On this very Web site I wrote a thing in March 2008, titled “What Should NATO Do?” It ended by worrying that NATO's Afghanistan policy was in danger of drifting into the hands of the Firepower People, which now seems realistic. Imagine my surprise to discover that,...
Obama Should Read WikiLeaks on Afghanistan
Perhaps President Barack Obama should give himself a waiver on the ban prohibiting U.S. government employees from downloading classified cables released by WikiLeaks, so he can get a better grasp on the futility of his Afghan War strategy. For instance, if Secretary...
How Afghanistan Became a War for NATO
The official line of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the NATO command in Afghanistan, is that the war against Afghan insurgents is vital to the security of all the countries providing troops there. In fact, however, NATO was given a central role in...
A Radical Solution for the War in Afghanistan
If actions speak louder than words, the U.S. military this week seemed to confirm the pessimistic findings of the National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs) on the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which it had pooh-poohed only last week. The military assessment emphasized...
Thoughts at the White House Fence
“Show me your company, and I'll tell you who you are,” my grandmother would often say with a light Irish lilt but a heavy emphasis, an admonition about taking care in choosing what company you keep. On Thursday, I could sense her smiling down through the snow as I...
Gains in Kandahar Came with More Brutal US Tactics
The Barack Obama administration's claim of "progress" in its war strategy is based on the military seizure of three rural districts outside Kandahar City in October. But those tactical gains have come at the price of further exacerbating the basic U.S....
