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.
Remarks to Orlando Rotary Club
posted by Jim Ludes on October 25, 2010 at 12:39 am
American power is in crisis. Economically, we face continued turmoil and uncertainty. Politically, we are distracted by persistent partisanship. Our military is overextended by two wars and decades of mismanagement. We continue to under-invest in America’s human capital even while we face a diverse array of challenges from terrorists, nuclear proliferators, energy dependence, rising powers, environmental decline, and broad revolutions in communications technology and commerce. In the twenty-first century, the United States risks becoming less powerful, less competitive, and ultimately less secure.
Al Qaeda An "Afterthought" in Afghan War
posted by Germain Difo on August 24, 2010 at 1:51 pm
An article in yesterday’s Washington Post noted that al Qaeda has an increasingly minor presence and role in Afghanistan, becoming almost an “afterthought” in the conflict there. Though this isn’t really new information, the article makes what I thought to be an interesting suggestion, noting that al Qaeda’s relatively small role in the Afghanistan conflict…
Green Energy has the Potential to Save Lives in Afghanistan
posted by Lindsey Ross on August 16, 2010 at 11:15 am
Marines enlist green energy in the Afghanistan war effort – The Desert Sun By the numbers: 200,000 – Gallons of fuel it takes to power the war in Afghanistan on a daily basis. 90 – The number of trucks sometimes required to fill a supply convoy carrying water and fuel in Afghanistan. 75 – The…
Counterterrorism and the Numbers Game
posted by Germain Difo on July 6, 2010 at 3:29 pm
From Fox News yesterday: US Officials Cite Synergy of Terrorists with Expanding Desire to Kill Americans There are a lot of interesting things going on in this article, but a couple of quotes stood out to me as being worth highlighting. The first concerns the al Qaeda bodycount as a measure of success: Purely by…
Revisiting "Least Bad" and Drones
posted by Louis McCoy on June 4, 2010 at 9:51 am
Michael Cohen over that Democracy Arsenal considers drones a “least bad” option: democracyarsenal.org: Drones: The Least Bad Option The bottom line here is that there is no silver bullet to dealing with jihadist terror groups that operate in the wilds of Pakistan. If you think about the various policy courses that the US has adopted…
Al Qaeda #3 Reported Killed in Drone Strike
posted by Germain Difo on June 1, 2010 at 11:15 am
ABC News: Al Qaeda #3 Killed Shaikh Sa’id al-Masri is the senior most al Qaeda official killed under President Obama, the officials said. An Egyptian, Shaikh Sa’id was formerly the chief financial officer of al Qaeda. The official said Shaikh Sa’id’s “death would be a major blow to al-Qaeda, which in December lost both its internal…
