NATO Report Indicates Taliban Plotting Power Grab
In a secret NATO report recently leaked to the British media, Taliban insurgents told their interrogators that they are increasingly confident that the Taliban will retake power once NATO forces depart...
View ArticleAlleged Killings by American Soldier Rattle Afghanistan
Details are still emerging on the killings of 16 Afghan civilians by a U.S. soldier in Kandahar province. U.S. officials call it an isolated incident in which one rogue soldier acted alone. Obviously...
View ArticleAfghanistan: Negotiating While Withdrawing Is Poor Strategy
In the wake of a U.S. Army staff sergeant’s murdering 16 Afghan civilians (mostly women and children), U.S. officials are contemplating the pace and scope of the U.S. troop drawdown from the country....
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Taking on the Taliban Online
Somebody hacked a Taliban website. Big surprise. Actually, no surprise. No surprise that the Taliban and other terrorists groups are online. When the issues of terrorism and the Internet are joined in...
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Seven Terrorist Groups Affiliated with al-Qaeda
A screengrab taken from a video purportedly from Islamist group Boko Haram released on Youtube on May 1, 2012 shows a man holding an AK-47 assault rifle. Recently certain experts opined that the war on...
View ArticleOpportunity to Showcase Long-Term Commitment to Afghanistan
The long-awaited NATO Summit being held in Chicago next week with more than 60 heads of state and government in attendance will focus much of its deliberations on the future of Afghanistan. While...
View ArticleMorning Bell: Afghan Forces Turning Against Their U.S. Trainers
American troops in Afghanistan face an increased threat from “insider” attacks in which the Afghan forces they are there to help and train are turning their guns on their American partners, raising...
View ArticleMorning Bell: We Can’t Give Up on Afghanistan
Yesterday marked the 11-year anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, which was launched just three and a half weeks after the 9/11 attacks. Recently, U.S. troop deaths in Afghanistan...
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What Malala’s Story Tells Americans
Malala Yousafzai was 11 years old when she inadvertently became the voice for millions of Muslim girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan who want to attend school. In a moving 2009 New York Times video and...
View ArticleDebate Prep: Our Longest War – Afghanistan and Pakistan
The final presidential debate, on foreign policy, is scheduled for Monday, October 22. Moderator Bob Schieffer announced that the topics will be: “America’s Role in the World,” “Our Longest...
View ArticleMorning Bell: 5 Crucial Questions for the Presidential Foreign Policy Debate
Tonight’s final presidential debate will focus solely on foreign policy. Moderator Bob Schieffer announced that the topics will be: “America’s Role in the World,” “Our Longest War—Afghanistan and...
View ArticleHagel’s Distorted Views on India
Former Senator Chuck Hagel’s (R–NE) unfounded comments on India’s role in Afghanistan during a speech in 2011 provide yet another indication that he is poorly qualified to lead the U.S. Department of...
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Afghanistan: “Zero Option” Has Zero Chance of Working
EdStock/iStock Photo Senator John McCain (R–AZ) bombarded top U.S. commander in Afghanistan General Joseph Dunford at a recent Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with tough questions when he...
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Pakistan Elections May Go to the Terrorists
HAJI MUSLIM/AFP/Getty Images/Newscom In the lead up to the historic May 11 elections, the Pakistani Taliban (also known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP) and other radical Islamist groups are...
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Susan Rice to NSC: Obama Goes All In on Failed Policies
Newscom President Obama’s jarring choice of former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice to be the Administration’s new National Security Adviser showcases the President’s willingness to...
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Zero Troops in Afghanistan: The Taliban Dream Option
Newscom “The zero option is the Taliban dream option. An abrupt drawdown would pave the way for the Taliban to regain influence and cripple the U.S. ability to conduct counter-terrorism missions in the...
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Who Are the Rebels in Syria?
Newscom No one knows for certain the number of organized opposition groups in Syria and opposition militia forces fighting in the Syrian civil war. These irregular guerrilla forces fighting primarily...
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The Other September 11 Anniversary: Remembering Benghazi
U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. (Photo: Newscom) While official commemorations of September 11, 2001, are going on and Americans continue to grieve and honor the lives lost 12 years ago,...
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Afghanistan: Levin Sets Low Bar for Future Troop Levels
Jay Mallin/ZUMA Press/Newscom With the 2014 deadline for the end of U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan fast approaching, there are many questions regarding the number of troops that will remain in...
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Pakistan and Kenya Terrorist Attacks: Is There a Link?
Rana Sajid Hussain/Sipa USA/Newscom Within 24 hours over the weekend, two major terrorist attacks by Islamist extremists occurred in different parts of the world. In Kenya, military forces are still...
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Pakistan Terrorist Attack Bears Hallmarks of al-Qaeda
Rana Sajid Hussain/Sipa USA/Newscom The dual suicide bombing of a Sunday morning church service in Peshawar, Pakistan, over the weekend is not typical of the kinds of attacks the Pakistani minority...
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Hearing on Afghanistan Highlights Importance of Residual Force
Newscom Panelists at a recent hearing by the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia urged Congress to maintain a strong residual force in Afghanistan post-2014. The U.S....
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What the Mehsud Strike Means for Fighting Global Terrorism
Newscom It was welcome news that a U.S.-launched drone strike killed Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) who was responsible for slaughtering thousands of Pakistanis and wanted for...
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Rise in Afghanistan Opium Production Is No Surprise
Newscom A new United Nations report found that opium production in Afghanistan increased 36 percent in 2013. This dramatic surge in production is confirming fears that Afghan farmers are taking their...
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Bombing of Iranian Embassy in Lebanon: Blowback from Iran’s Former Friends
Newscom The twin suicide bombings that rocked the Iranian embassy in Lebanon on Tuesday underscore the rising Sunni Arab backlash against Iran’s Syria policy. The attack, which killed at least 25...
View ArticleThreats to America in 2014
Americans will die on American soil in large numbers. So predicted the Hart-Rudman Commission seven months before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. No commissioner felt good about it getting it right....
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Afghan Terrorist Detainees to Be Released: A Wake-Up Call
FINDLAY KEMBER/AFP/Getty Images/Newscom In a move that was long in coming but widely expected, the Afghan government announced today that it is going to release all but 16 of the 88 terrorist detainees...
View ArticleCongressional Skepticism of Aid to Afghanistan Grows as U.S. Troops Withdraw
As the U.S. continues to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, possibly all of them by the end of the year, Members of Congress are increasingly doubtful about the efficacy of U.S. aid programs....
View ArticleAfghanistan: Obama Administration Taking Wrong Lesson from Elections
The high voter turnout for the April 5 election in Afghanistan (nearly 60 percent) in the face of insurgent violence and threats demonstrates that the Afghan people want democracy, not the harsh...
View ArticleSouth Asia Still Major Hotspot for International Terrorism
Despite the degradation of al-Qaeda’s core leadership based in Pakistan and its increased reliance on regional affiliate organizations to conduct attacks, South Asia remains “a frontline in the battle...
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