We strive to examine issues important to U.S. national security from a post-partisan perspective, meaning we try to break through the spin to find ideas we can use to encourage fresh thinking and build genuine consensus.
New America Foundation's Peter Bergen on Afghanistan
posted by selena shilad on August 4, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Peter Bergen of the New America Foundation reports in a commentary on CNN today that “Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is expected to ask the Obama administration for additional troops and equipment.” The real debate has boiled down to how long the U.S. will wait for the Afghan government to be…
New America Foundation’s Peter Bergen on Afghanistan
posted by selena shilad on August 4, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Peter Bergen of the New America Foundation reports in a commentary on CNN today that âGen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is expected to ask the Obama administration for additional troops and equipment.â The real debate has boiled down to how long the U.S. will wait for the Afghan government to be…
International Law and U.S. Courts by Peter Charles Choharis
posted by Louis McCoy on August 4, 2009 at 9:54 am
International Law And U.S. Courts By: Peter Charles Choharis This week the United States Senate will vote on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Although few doubt she’ll be confirmed, among the more curious charges raised by her opponents is that she will rely…
The Incoherence of COIN Advocates: Andrew Exum Edition
posted by Louis McCoy on August 4, 2009 at 9:19 am
In a recent post on his blog (Losing Patience with GIRoA), Exum makes a startling argument that raises fundamental questions about whether mainstream counter-insurgency theorists — of which Exum is one of the most prominent examples — actually understand the connection between military forces and political goals. He writes: There is a growing realization that…
Important Stories from Iraq and Afghanistan
posted by Louis McCoy on July 31, 2009 at 11:01 am
From the NYT: U.S. Adviser’s Blunt Memo on Iraq – Time ‘to Go Home’ Prepared by Col. Timothy R. Reese, an adviser to the Iraqi military’s Baghdad command, the memorandum details Iraqi military weaknesses in scathing language, including corruption, poor management and the inability to resist Shiite political pressure. Extending the American military presence beyond…
Congress, Pork, and the F-22
posted by Louis McCoy on July 30, 2009 at 7:43 am
There is a frustrating tendency in media coverage of the defense budget, that is the assumption that if Congress adds anything to a the Department of Defense’s budget request it is an example of political pork (Pork-Laden Defense Bill Weighed). Often it is, but sometimes it isn’t. In the current defense appropriation bill, there is…
