Human Factors Key in Afghanistan Campaign
This weekend American troops will launch a grand military campaign to take control over the Kandahar region from the Taliban insurgents. If successful, this will be a huge success in the campaign against the Taliban. They will be one giant step closer to stabilizing Afghanistan. While the outcome of all this fighting will be worth [...]
President Karzai Taking “Bags” of Cash from Iran
The war in Afghanistan continues to challenge the traditional scope of what we think of as war and victory. Recent reports of money from Iran being funneled to Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai through close associates is another example of the complex regional situation. The situation is best summed up by General Petraeus, who said, “What [...]
Preventing Another Cargo Bomb Attack
Two parcel bombs en route by air from Yemen to Chicago were recovered in Dubai and Britain on Friday. Investigators believe that al-Qaeda’s top explosives expert from the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, designed the two bombs. The adept construction and sophistication of the bombs revealed that Al-Qaeda’s Yemeni offshoot is improving its capabilities [...]
Special Assessment: Afghanistan
The military campaign to defeat the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan has been ongoing since the 2001 American-led invasion. In recent years, the Taliban has re-emerged as a Pashtun movement, based in southern Afghanistan but also spreading into Pakistan. Mullah Omar, the spiritual head of the Taliban in Afghanistan, has claimed that the efforts of the [...]
Petraeus Has New Approach to Victory in Afghanistan
Recently, General David Petraeus was confirmed as the top military commander in Afghanistan, replacing General Stanley McChrystal. The architect of the successful counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq, General Petraeus will be focused on this single mission, having most recently served as head of United States Central Command, where he was responsible for overseeing the Middle East [...]
More Ethnic Unrest in Kyrgyzstan
Several months ago, this column reported on the political coup in the central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan. At the time, we illustrated the strategic importance of this country not only to America but also to Russia and neighboring Uzbekistan. American strategic interest is centered on our air base there, used for keeping supplies flowing to [...]
$1 Trillion of Minerals… Now What?
Newly-discovered mineral deposits in Afghanistan are estimated to be worth close to $1 trillion.1 U.S. and Afghan leaders were optimistic about the find. General David Petraeus stated that “There is stunning potential here…There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.”2 Jaili Jumriany, adviser to the Afghan Minister [...]
The Pakistani Double Game
The London School of Economics released a report early this past week alleging that the Pakistani intelligence agency, the Inter-Service Intelligence agency (ISI), not only funds and trains Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan but plays an active and official role in the Taliban’s executive war council. If this report is accurate, the Pakistani military already possesses [...]
Senior Resignations Upset Reconstruction of Afghan Forces
On 6 June 2010, Afghan Interior Minister Hanif Atmar and the National Directorate of Security chief Amrullah Saleh resigned from their positions in the Karzai government. Their resignations came after an attack on a “peace jirga” meeting to discuss ways to end the war with the Taliban. There were over 1,500 delegates present; fortunately, none [...]
As Missiles Pound Pakistan, Afghan President Gets Fine Treatment
This week’s actions by the Obama administration have quite clearly demonstrated where American attentions lie in the national security and foreign policy realms of government: Southwest Asia. On the same day that drone planes fired 18 missiles at militants in the northern tribal region of Waziristan in Pakistan, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan was welcomed [...]
