About Pres. Obama’s seriousness on terrorism, comeuppance delivered. Dick Cheney will be so depressed. From the New York Times: The Taliban’s top military commander was captured several days ago in Karachi, Pakistan, in a secret joint operation by Pakistani and American intelligence forces, according to American government officials. The commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is an Afghan [...] [...more]
The forum I attended earlier this afternoon at the New America Foundation was on “Engaging Israelis on the Road to Final Status,” with survey results released that turned conventional wisdom about Obama on its head. For months, including in all the events I’ve attended, the CW was that with the help of the Israeli press, [...] [...more]
That was our president today and I couldn’t have been prouder. Unflinching, reversing the muddled message of last week, once again regaining the moral authority of why we fight. That there are “just wars,” of which I’ve always believed Afghanistan is one. Today’s speech unraveling last week’s tangled rhetorical mess that had Pres. Obama [...] [...more]
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy “Actively countering a clear and present danger,” says Rice, that’s what we’re doing in Afghanistan, regardless of the reality that there are less than 100 al Qaeda in that country, with the Taliban embedded in the consciousness of that country. With Rice claiming there [...] [...more]
Seriously, I don’t think anyone knows. A glimmer of reality surfaces, via Thomas Friedman: To now make Afghanistan part of the “war on terrorism” — i.e., another nation-building project — is not crazy. It is just too expensive, when balanced against our needs for nation-building in America, so that we will have the strength to play [...] [...more]
Reported live from the White House. “Our core goal is to achieve peace and security for all peoples of the region.” – Pres. Obama The most important thing Pres. Obama said about Afghanistan is that “It is my intention to finish the job.” For more see Jake Tapper, with ABC News having video. When Mark Knoller asked his question [...] [...more]
updated below Ambassador Eikienberry doesn’t trust the Karzai government. The AP is reporting that it’s had its desired affect. Pres. Obama is now rejecting all the current plans on the table for the next step in Afghanistan. So, the rewrite has begun. I’ve been against more troops, because of the mountains of evidence obtained from months [...] [...more]
From the time I started writing this piece this morning to the time it was posted, Time magazine had changed the tone and title from “Hillary’s Moment” to “The State of Hillary: A Mixed Record on the Job.” Things shift quickly for team Obama, especially when you’re chief diplomat is Hillary Rodham Clinton. Somewhere between Obama’s [...] [...more]
Full text of interview. Incoming, and I’m not just talking about drones in Pakistan. Clinton faced a tough crowd with even tougher questions over U.S. policy of using CIA drone attacks. From the AP: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton came face-to-face Friday with Pakistanis’ simmering anger over U.S. aerial drones firing missiles in their country. [...] [...more]
“I find it hard to believe that nobody in your government knows where they are and couldn’t get them if they really wanted to,” she told a group of newspaper editors during a meeting in Lahore. “Maybe they are not ‘get-at-able’. I don’t know,” she said. … While acknowledging the many bumps in U.S.-Pakistan relations, [...] [...more]
–updated– Trying to reiterate broader support for what the Pakistanis are doing in South Waziristan, Clinton is doing diplomacy at a moment when things are very difficult in the region, with a car bomb exploding killing more than 80 people, according to early reports. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Pakistan on Wednesday for [...] [...more]
Rep. of Secr’etary-General Kai Eide, Sen. John Kerry, Pres. Karzai. (via) NATO’s decision to endorse a broader effort in Afghanistan could be foreshadowing, as the narrower approach to Afghanistan, which Biden championed, shows all signs of being grounded. Gates was at the NATO briefing, which was also attended by Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Via the Wall Street Journal: Signs [...] [...more]
–updated – bumped– Backdrop… The setting for my conversation with Richard Holbrooke was Kati Marton’s book salon and wine reception at the New American Foundation. Ironically, Josh Rogin had an exclusive interview with Richard Holbrooke several hours after I had a conversation with him, with the following from Rogin the exact same thing Holbrooke revealed in our [...] [...more]
David Rohde has begun to unwind his harrowing tale of being inside the Pakistani Taliban’s grip. We’ll have to wait to see how it unfolds, but so far he’s making McChrystal’s counterinsurgency point pretty well, but also the points of progressives who are after Obama to work faster and harder on Gitmo and other related [...] [...more]
–bumped and updated– –UPDATE for 10.17– The military had been planning the operation for months, amassing nearly 30,000 troops in the area and attempting to soften targets with aerial strikes. Military officials and security experts estimate that between 5,000 and 10,000 “hardcore” Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents are based in the area, which the United States views [...] [...more]
