Zawahiri: "Obama did not change anything" (Reposted)
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on April 22, 2009 at 5:28 am +0000 · 1 Comment
Al Qaeda’s number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, released a audio/video statement a couple of days ago, complaining that President Barack Obama “did not change anything” in the perception of the United States by Muslims.
Filed under Afghanistan, Commentary, Featured, Jihad, Media, Threats · Tagged with Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, America, American, As-Sahab, Audio, Barack Obama, coup, insurgency, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Israel, Jihad, Media, message, Muslims, Obama, Pakistan, Palestine, Statement, Threat, Threats, Troops, TTP, U.S., Video, War, Zawahiri
A Trust Deficit
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on April 6, 2009 at 4:53 pm +0000 · Leave a Comment
Jane Perlez of the New York Times has a fine analysis of the problems facing President Barack Obama’s ambitious new Pakistan-Afghanistan strategy. In short, the Pakistanis aren’t on board because they are too focused on India as enemy No. 1, they don’t like fighting fellow Muslims and they feel dissed by the U.S. And not without […]
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So, Who's in Charge of Pakistan?
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on April 1, 2009 at 1:30 pm +0000 · Leave a Comment
Foreign Affairs has a roundtable up on Pakistan and its military. (Or is that the other way around?) The consensus? The military rules and it’s totally paranoid about India, Russia and being encircled after America loses interest in Afghanistan. All this will make turning around the war in Afghanistan a tough challenge.
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How is This All Going to Work?
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on March 28, 2009 at 3:48 am +0000 · 1 Comment
One big question that’s popped up for me regarding President Barack Obama’s new Af-Pak strategy, is how all the pieces are going to fit together. I mean, this massive operation to engage Pakistan, Afghanistan and regional powers through diplomatic and military channels, aid agencies and civilian advisory bodies is going to take an exacting amount […]
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Defending Everything?
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on March 27, 2009 at 2:04 pm +0000 · Leave a Comment
The core goal of the new strategy is to “disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda and its safe havens in Pakistan, and to prevent their return to Pakistan or Afghanistan.” This is a clean break with Bush’s goal of a democratic Afghanistan. Nation-building is not the primary goal. Instead, nation-building will be a component of the strategy to defeat al Qaeda.
Filed under Afghanistan, Analysis, Featured, Politics · Tagged with Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, America, American, american security, Army, Author, Barack Obama, Book, COIN, Drugs, fighting, Idea, India, insurgency, Interview, Iran, Iraq, ISI, Islam, Islamabad, Jihad, Militant, Militants, Military, News, Obama, Pakistan, Policy, Russia, security, Special Forces, Statement, Strategy, Taliban, Terrorism, Troops, TTP, U.S., War, Washington
No Good Options on Afghanistan
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on March 25, 2009 at 2:36 pm +0000 · Leave a Comment
President Barack Obama has no good options when it comes to Afghanistan. But he’s going to have to present something to NATO this week, where Afghanistan is going to be topic number one on the agenda. Fred Kaplan of Slate lays out the possible strategies before Obama when it comes to dealing with the much-neglected Afghan war: Policies that favor either counter-terrorism (CT) policies or counter-insurgency (COIN).
Filed under Afghanistan, Analysis, Commentary, Featured, Military, Theory · Tagged with Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, America, American, Army, Barack Obama, Blog, COIN, development, Discussion, fighting, Foreign Policy, insurgency, Iraq, iraq war, Jihad, Military, Obama, Pakistan, Pashtun, Policy, Strategy, Taliban, Terrorism, Tribal, Troops, TTP, U.S., War, Washington
OBL Calls for Ousting Somali President
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on March 19, 2009 at 1:33 pm +0000 · Leave a Comment
Sorry for the dearth of posts lately; I’ve been traveling in NYC and DC with limited time to sit down and think, much less write. But I wanted to draw attention to yet another video from Osama bin Laden, this time addressed to the Muslims of Somalia. It’s a short message, only 11 minutes, 25 seconds long, and unusual […]
Obama and Pakistan's Nukes
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on April 30, 2009 at 5:38 am +0000 · 2 Comments
I’ve been trying to digest the news of Pakistan’s offensive against the Taliban and come up with something smart to say, but I’m left with more questions than answers on why the Pakistani Army finally got off the couch and decided to do something about the rowdy kids in its front yard. Why now? Will […]
Filed under Analysis, Featured, Pakistan · Tagged with Afghanistan, Air Strikes, America, American, Appeasement, Army, Barack Obama, Blog, Buner, Commentary, Conference, Idea, India, insurgency, Media, Militant, Militants, Military, News, Nuclear, Nukes, Obama, Pakistan, security, Statement, Swat, Taliban, Terrorism, Threat, Tribal, Troops, TTP, U.S., War