An Afghanistan Consensus, Sort Of
WashPost: Although Obama's top advisers disagree over whether to adopt a counterterrorism strategy or a counterinsurgency approach in Afghanistan, they have generally reached a consensus on other matters, officials said. That consensus emphasizes the importance of training Afghan security and police forces, as well as improving efforts to build effective government institutions. READ MORE >>
An Afghan Safe Haven... but not for al Qaeda?
Today's Washington Post editorial is the latest iteration of the paper's hawkish line on Afghanistan. But I think it raises a good question that hasn't been examined enough in the past couple of weeks. If the U.S. cedes swaths of nonpopulated territory to the Taliban, what does that mean for Pakistan's fight against their own domestic Taliban insurgency? Here's the Post's warning: READ MORE >>
Pakistani Ambassador Staying?
So says Husain Haqqani, Islamabad's affable man in Washington, despite contrary reports: "So far I've not been asked to alter my responsibilities nor have any questions been raised about my conduct," Haqqani said, adding that he does plan to meet with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during the latter's trip to Washington tomorrow. READ MORE >>
Hillary: Don't Sweat Pakistan's Nukes
AFP quotes the traveling Secretary of State on what might be the most important national security question of all, and one we should re-examine in the wake of this weekend's Taliban attack on Pakistani Army HQ: "Yesterday was another reminder that extremists ... are increasingly threatening the authority of the state," Clinton said at a press conference with British Foreign Secretary David Milliband. READ MORE >>
Meanwhile on the Cable Nets
Fox and MSNBC have been airing a freeway chase in the Dallas area for the better part of the last two hours. As a friend writes: Man, those guys know what people want on a Friday afternoon. READ MORE >>
Obama on the Prize: "A Call to Action"
Classy and well-played. He makes it about others, not himself, and effectively admits that he doesn't deserve it: I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee. Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations. READ MORE >>
Whose Fault Is the AfPak Confusion?
Kevin Drum thinks people, including myself, are being too hard on the Obama team when it comes to AfPak policymaking: READ MORE >>
Obama's Nobel: Mixed Blessing at Best
AfPak Confusion at the White House
About That 3 a.m. Call...
During the 2008 primaries an infamous Hillary Clinton ad warned that Barack Obama was unprepared for that hypothetical middle-of-the-night phone call announcing an international crisis and demanding a fast and decisive response. But real life is now demonstrating that national security decision-making is, with rare exceptions, something completely different. Obama's Afghanistan policy deliberations aren't about emergency phone calls and snap decisions. READ MORE >>
