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,… Read more
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… Read more
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.… Read more
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… Read more
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… Read more
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… Read more
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… Read more
Lisa Curtis discussing Pakistan. … Read more
Peter Brookes discussing the possible death of a Taliban leader in Pakistan. … Read more
With at least two ongoing wars, President-elect Barack Obama may well be entering the Oval Office facing the toughest national security landscape for any American president in some time. A tour of the foreign policy horizon shows that America's 44th president will have his hands full with a panoply of problems that would vex… Read more
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… Read more
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… Read more
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… Read more
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… Read more
On September 23, the French newspaper l’Est Republicain reported, based on a leaked memo from France’s DSGE intelligence agency, that Saudi intelligence had uncovered information that Osama bin Laden had died of typhoid on August 23 in Pakistan. But a French security official quickly cautioned that the report is based… Read more
In a secret NATO report recently leaked to the British media, Taliban insurgents told their interrogators that they are...… Read more
During Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, President Obama largely glossed over the ongoing war in Afghanistan,...… Read more
The relationship between the Taliban and al-Qaeda was one of the hot topics of Monday night’s presidential debate....… Read more
[caption id="attachment_87595" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="In this photograph taken on September 26, 2008, a...… Read more
On a Saturday in late October in Kabul, Afghanistan, a car carrying explosives rammed into an armored U.S. military bus,...… Read more
The recently released Century Foundation International Task Force report on Afghanistan titled "Afghanistan:...… Read more
In the past week, military excursions into the tribal regions of Pakistan targeted Islamist militants believed to have...… Read more
Before concluding that today’s New York Times article on Taliban outreach to Karzai means that an Afghan settlement is...… Read more
General Petraeus laid out clear-cut benchmarks that would indicate signs of progress with the U.S. strategy in...… Read more
Unfortunately, President Obama missed a valuable opportunity tonight to demonstrate that he is fully committed to...… Read more