COIN Toss
The Foreign Policy Awards
Why We Need Pakistan's Help
This AP story reminds us that it's going to be tough to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan so long as they have a safe haven across the border in Pakistan: SHAKTOI, Pakistan (AP) -- A top Pakistani Taliban commander says he sent thousands of fighters to neighboring Afghanistan to rebuff incoming U.S. troops, a claim that comes as a Pakistani army offensive is believed to have pushed many of his men to flee their main redoubt. READ MORE >>
Hillary: Face Time Rules
Apparently I found Newsweek's interview with Henry Kissinger and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton more interesting than Isaac did. Clinton makes what I think are a couple of interesting observations, including this one, about diplomacy in the modern world: READ MORE >>
Crime and Punishment in Pakistan
I'm no expert, but the more I think and learn about Pakistan, the more I wonder whether there's any hope of a healthy long-term relationship between our country and theirs. Here's an example of the culture gap we're facing: READ MORE >>
Ahmadinejad, Defiant
Via AP: TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's president on Tuesday dismissed a year-end deadline set by the Obama administration and the West for Tehran to accept a U.N.-drafted deal to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel, and claimed his government is now "10 times stronger" than a year ago.... READ MORE >>
Fear and Loathing in Pakistan
Islamabad, Pakistan READ MORE >>
Quote of the Day
Barack Obama: “One of the things that I’ve felt very strongly about during the course of this year is that hard stuff requires not paralysis, but it requires going ahead and trying to make the best of the situation that you’re in.” Doesn't have quite the same ring as "the fierce urgency of now," does it? And in fact, MLK's next line was this: "This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism." Of course, Martin Luther King never met Ben Nelson. READ MORE >>
Overheard
At a Washington, D.C., restaurant, a child looking at a picture of Barack Obama turns to his mother and says: "Is he always going to be the president, mommy?" "No," the mother replied. "Four years." Maybe she's a Palin voter? READ MORE >>
Shaking Hands With the Man Who Killed Your Father
Geopolitical realities force Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri to visit Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, who probably orchestrated a massive car bomb that killed Hariri's father in 2005. READ MORE >>
