‘This Administration Ended, Rather Than Extended, Two Wars’
A Crock of COIN
Afghan Lessons from the Iraq War
Afghanistan, Iraq Near Bottom of Corruption Index
Despite billions of dollars spent by the U.S. and other countries to improve governance in Afghanistan and Iraq, the two countries remain among the world's most corrupt nations, according to the latest edition of Transparency International's (TI) Corruption...
Our National Cognitive Dissonance
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on the Sunday gab circuit that rooting al-Qaeda out from Afghanistan is...
Afghanistan as a Patronage Machine
It's now a commonplace of the Afghan War. Western leaders in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Washington, as well as on flying visits to Kabul or even Kandahar, excoriate Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the "corruption" of his government. In return for their ongoing...
Biggest State Party to Obama: Get Out of Afghanistan
This week begins with a significant new straw in the political wind for President Obama to consider. The California Democratic Party has just sent him a formal and clear message: Stop making war in Afghanistan. Overwhelmingly approved on Sunday by the California...
Reading the Af-Pak Tea Leaves
It's tough to tell what's going to happen with Af-Pak. We get so many conflicting reports. For a time, we heard that President Obama was leaning toward sending 30,000 additional troops there, and that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of...
