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Taliban

A Sadly Simplistic Afghan Debate

Nixon's handling of Vietnam and China could offer insights for Obama in Afghanistan.

West's Afghan Hopes Collide with Reality

The outcome in Afghanistan won't resemble the vision of America and its allies, who wanted a strong, Western-aligned central government keeping the Taliban at bay. The goals should now be less ambitious.

The Anarchic Republic of Pakistan

Pakistan's military-intelligence complex is too preoccupied with countering India to mount a serious campaign against radicals who threaten the nation's survival. The country is being destroyed from within.

American Jihad

Al-Qaeda has accomplished the unthinkable: establishing an embryonic recruitment, radicalization and operational capacity on our shores. Our current strategy risks another 9/11.

Karzai and 22,000 Villages

A military surge will not win Afghanistan. Karzai and his corrupt clan have failed the Afghan people. Former presidential candidate Ghani shows us a way out: counterinsurgency economics.

Sanctum FATA

The United States has allowed the Afghan War to slip from apparent victory to possible defeat. Kabul is no longer the center of battle. The fulcrum has shifted to Pakistan.

Commentary

Pakistan's Troubled Election

Ballots fight bombs—real and ideological—for dominance.

Karzai's Balancing Act

The Afghan president's perorations are motivated by domestic concerns.

Get the Deal or Get Out of Afghanistan

There is simply no justification for having a single American killed or wounded on the Afghan battlefield if all is certain to come to naught in a year’s time or less.

Blogs

Sergeant Bergdahl, War and Terrorism

The United States doesn't negotiate with terrorists. But the Taliban is not a terrorist organization. 

The Massacre in Panjwai

Even after Sunday's tragic shooting, Washington seems committed to staying in Afghanistan unitl 2014. It's going to be a long two years.

It’s Time to Cut Our Losses in Afghanistan

No more American or Afghan lives should be lost in pursuit of a strategy that is not in America’s national interest.

Books & Reviews

The McChrystal Way of War

The general was an innovative thinker in the midst of major changes in the Army.

A Ticking Bomber

There is no simple answer to the causes of terrorism. But three books offer insight into the complexities of man and his motivation to kill. These explanations come not from academic tomes, nor expositions by the burgeoning cottage industry of ter

Losing Mythic Authority

As a result of America’s misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have lost the global clout we derived from our role in World War II—for good.

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June 18, 2013