If the Afghanistan “surge” and new comprehensive strategy are to succeed, we need to make sure civilian efforts are coordinated and thereby achieve maximum impact. This will ensure that we can apply collective international pressure on President Karzai, and that our resources achieve maximum effectiveness.
See: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-12-17/whos-watching-karzai/
A few excerpts : 
“In his standard command briefing, Gen. Stanley McChrystal points [...]

The National Journal is hosting an expert debate on what to do about Pakistan. It was the focus of much of my remarks at last Friday’s ASP event with Congressman Skelton, Jonathan Landay, Steve Clemons, Caroline Wadhams, Bernard Finel and me.
I argue today that we need to help the Pakistani people and bolster their civil [...]

Bernard,
One comment on your discussion of Hoffman’s quote in the NYT article.  You write:
“…And Bruce Hoffman, who is quoted as saying,
…the argument that terrorism can be prevented essentially by remote control was “immensely seductive” — and completely wrong.
“We tried to contain the terrorism problem in Afghanistan from a distance before 9/11,” he said. “Look how [...]

The National Journal’s national security experts blog asked us what are reading this week.  My response:
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, the Afghan-American better-known for his first novel The Kite Runner.
Here’s a link to the entry: http://security.nationaljournal.com/2009/08/what-are-you-reading.php

Since the Washington Times just ran a piece today on the Afghan elections and gave it a title I can agree with, I’m eager to post it, and now ready to post the link to the Daily Beast piece — which was mercilessly mistitled. 
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/27/the-election-observed/?feat=home_commentary
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-08-25/americas-latest-mistake-in-afghanistan/
Here’s an excerpt from the Wash Times below:
“…There is a danger that [...]

Afghan Election Day – and After:  Rocks Under the Rice?

Looks like by and large the Afghan elections are free of major problems.  The international observers are starting to issue statements (see iri.org), the U.S. government (or at least Ambassador Holbrooke) seems pretty satisfied.  If there was fraud, chances are it happened before election day – in [...]

Live from “Jay-Bad”
Jalalabad. Population about 300,000, but there hasn’t been a census in decades. It’s a Pashtun area and the local governor, Gul Agha Sherzai, was installed by President Karzai to move him away from his power-base in Kandarhar (try Google for colorful stories about the man). Election observers are neutral, don’t prejudge the outcome [...]

Before the umpteenth but delicious meal of biryani, rice, chicken, lentils, lamb and delicious Afghan bread (like the Indian naan or Turkish dipping bread) …
“They Put him Though a Wheat Thresher”
The American mafia (whether Italian-American, Russian-American, Chinese-American…) will knee-cap their enemies or put them in a bag with rocks and “send them to the fishes.” [...]

Reporting in from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan – where there is considerable enthusiasm, apprehension, skepticism and other mixed emotions about the second democratic Afghan elections… Preparations for the elections – unlike the first ones in 2004 and 2005, these are Afghan-run – have been ongoing for several months. There are about 7000 polling centers, [...]

I blogged today on the National Journal, answering a question the moderator posed about whether recent senior administration statements on Russia and the Middle East (Biden, Clinton) that conflicted with administration policies or presidential statements were deleterious to President Obama.  I say some straying from the talking points, or even the President’s stated policy is natural in a democracy — [...]