Abstract: While President Obama is drawing down U.S. troops in Afghanistan, he is attempting to negotiate with the Taliban—despite the fact that the Taliban has renounced neither terrorism nor its support for al-Qaeda. If the Taliban is able to regain influence in Afghanistan without…
Abstract: In 2007, The Heritage Foundation became the first and only organization to track thwarted terrorist attacks against the United States. That year, Heritage reported that at least 19 publicly known terrorist attacks against the United States had been foiled since 9/11. Today, that…
The situation in Afghanistan has spiraled downward over the past 10 days, but before making hasty decisions on next steps in Afghanistan, U.S. policymakers need to consider what has contributed to this ominous turn of events and what options there are for adjusting the U.S. strategy to avoid further such…
The killing of Osama bin Laden should strengthen U.S resolve to stabilize Afghanistan and ensure that it does not return to serving as a safe haven for terrorists intent on attacking the U.S. homeland. While the death of bin Laden marks a turning point in the fight against global terrorism,…
Earlier this month, U.S. military personnel dispatched one of the world’s most wanted terrorists and marked a significant victory in the war on terrorism. The death of Osama bin Laden was warmly welcomed by NATO leaders, including British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. NATO Secretary General…
As the CIA and US Special Forces root through the files taken from Osama bin Laden's mansion, his terrorist teammates have to be asking what's next for them. Stateside, of course, hysterical pundits are warning darkly that al Qaeda's revenge can't be far off.…
Bin Laden died in a mansion. Hitler died inside a bunker. Both bit the dust before the wars they started were finished. The Fuehrer shot himself on April 30, 1945. While Nazi Germany formally surrendered eight days later, the war against Japan went on for six…
Abstract: The U.S. faces difficult and ongoing challenges in Afghanistan. There have been setbacks, delays, and stumbling blocks in the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban, but now is not the time to begin large-scale troop withdrawals or to cut civilian aid programs. By…
The White House review on Afghanistan released Thursday demonstrates that the 30,000 additional U.S. troops deployed to Afghanistan this year are beginning to make a difference in the direction of the war. In order to build on these tentative gains, the Administration should take a stronger…
Abstract: This is a time of testing in Afghanistan. The price being paid is high, the mission complex, and progress not always obvious to the eye. The truth is that operations in Afghanistan—operations for which the Afghans themselves are paying a heavy price along…
This month, several individuals detained as "enemy combatants" will make their appeals for freedom to the highest court in the land. Perhaps now, more than any other time in recent memory, the eyes of the world are intensely focused…
When the United States helped the Afghan resistance defeat the Soviet Army in a brutal guerrilla war, it scored one of its biggest Cold War victories. However, shortly after Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, the United States withdrew from active involvement in Afghan affairs. As a result, Washington squandered the residual influence…
Afghanistan is a crucial front in the global struggle against the al-Qaeda terrorist network and Islamic radicalism. The United States-led coalition was unable to transform an overwhelming military victory in 2001 into a stable postwar political situation because of Afghanistan's fractious politics and shattered economic, state, and civil society infrastructures; a minimalist American approach to committing…
As the spring snowmelt signals the onset of Afghanistan's traditional fighting season, the United States has begun to deploy an additional 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan, raising the total U.S. force level to about 32,000.1 These reinforcements will help to blunt the expected spring offensive by the Taliban-led insurgency, which has grown stronger in recent years. Yet…
The long-awaited NATO Summit being held in Chicago next week with more than 60 heads of state and government in...…
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Somebody hacked a Taliban website. Big surprise. Actually, no surprise. No surprise that the Taliban and other...…
In the wake of a U.S. Army staff sergeant’s murdering 16 Afghan civilians (mostly women and children), U.S. officials...…
Details are still emerging on the killings of 16 Afghan civilians by a U.S. soldier in Kandahar province. U.S. officials...…
In a secret NATO report recently leaked to the British media, Taliban insurgents told their interrogators that they are...…
During Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, President Obama largely glossed over the ongoing war in Afghanistan,...…
The relationship between the Taliban and al-Qaeda was one of the hot topics of Monday night’s presidential debate....…
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On a Saturday in late October in Kabul, Afghanistan, a car carrying explosives rammed into an armored U.S. military bus,...…