The Administration of George W. Bush was close to an unmitigated disaster for the image of the United States abroad. His ill-informed, often offensive, and counter-productive public statements and policy preferences set back American national security dramatically. Trying to undo some of the damage of the Bush years is the reason that President Obama has [...]

On March 20, 2003, the United States invaded Iraq. On April 9, Baghdad fell, ending Saddam Hussein’s tyrannical rule.
The effect of this victory seemed to transform the globe. In August 2003, Libya accepted responsibility for past terrorism and offered restitution as well as agreeing to conform with non-proliferation commitments. In 2003, the Iranians also suspended [...]

From today’s Washington Post: Strikes Have Disrupted Al-Qaeda:
Drone-launched U.S. missile attacks and Pakistan’s ongoing military offensive in and around the Swat Valley have unsettled al-Qaeda and undermined its relative invulnerability in Pakistani mountain sanctuaries, U.S. military and intelligence officials say.
This sounds promising.  But unfortunately, the article provides no evidence or details.  All we have are [...]

I’ve written about this before, but this is a good time to revisit the issue.  From today’s NYT: 1 in 7 Freed Detainees Rejoins Fight, Report Foun:
An unreleased Pentagon report provides new details concluding that about one in seven of the 534 prisoners already transferred abroad from the detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has [...]

The firing of General McKiernan in Afghanistan and his replacement with General McChrystal has prompted some interested debate and discussion. Three of the arguments that emerged are of particular interest and deserve further comment.
First, posting at Foreign Policy, analyst Kori Schake argues provocatively that “McKiernan may become the General Shinseki of Afghanistan.” She [...]

Andrew Sullivan approvingly quotes an essay by Professor Manan Ahmed that attacks the claim that Pakistan is a failed state.
It is a peculiar argument, in large part because very few people actually do consider Pakistan a failed state. That said, it is unclear what most people really do fear is likely to happen in [...]

It is now a deeply entrenched conventional wisdom that the decision to “abandon” Afghanistan after the Cold War was a tragic mistake. In the oft-told story, our “abandonment” led to civil war, state collapse, the rise of the Taliban, and inevitably terrorist attacks on American soil. This narrative is now reinforced by dire [...]

Coming on the heals of the imposition of Sharia rule in the Swat Valley in Pakistan comes news that the Pakistani Taliban has seized a foothold in the Buner district, a mere 70 miles from the capital Islamabad. Worse, the Pakistani military seems largely unwilling to confront this rising Islamist tide.
From the New York [...]

Blogger Andrew Sullivan has likened torture to a cancer on America’s democracy, that “metastasizes quickly and poisons everything it touches.” Today’s Washington Post has a story about likely investigations in Europe of torture during the Bush Administration:
European prosecutors are likely to investigate CIA and Bush administration officials on suspicion of violating an international ban on [...]

The New York Times has been reporting about concerns about developments in Iraq focusing particularly on the current state of the Awakening Councils and Sons of Iraq (many of them former insurgents who switched sides) (Troops Arrest an Awakening Council Leader in Iraq, Setting Off Fighting) and the ability of Iraqi security forces to deal [...]