Update: Torture, The STL in Lebanon, and Obama’s “Way Forward” in Afghanistan
Today we introduce a new feature in The Trenchant Observer, an occasional column commenting on some of the more important events of the previous weeks…
Eikenberry cables
The smartest person in the room, and the Afghanistan policy review
Continuing Reflections on “the Smartest Person in the Room” In a previous article, we offered some observations on the report that President Obama always considers…
Urgent Note to Obama and Petraeus: Reread the Eikenberry Cables, Avoid Reasoning from Conclusions, and Adjust Course
The replacement of General Stanley McChrystal by General David Petraeus signals an important change in the military leadership in Afghanistan. However, with commentators suggesting that…
After McChrystal: Obama, Petraeus, and Fixing a Failed Strategy in Afghanistan
The newspapers will be filled for days with information and views regarding Obama’s June 23 firing of General Stanley McChrystal and his replacement by General…
McChrystal, Petraeus, COIN, and Fixing a Failed Strategy in Afghanistan
The newspapers will be filled for days with information and views regarding Obama’s meeting with Stanley McChrystal and his Afghanistan team on Wednesday, June 23,…
Opera Buffa in Kabul — Karzai Threatens to Join the Taliban
Farsical But Sinister Robert H. Reid of AP summarizes the farsical but sinister events of the last week in the ever stranger opera buffa of…
News to Note: Lower House of Afghan National Assembly Rejects Karzai’s Electoral Coup
Heartening News, if Not an April Fool’s Joke Jonathan Partow of the Washington Post reports from Kabul that the lower house of Aghanistan’s National Assembly…
Thomas L. Friedman on Karzai; Hard Options
Thomas L. Friedman, in an op-ed article published on the New York Times website on March 30 and in the print edition on March 31,…
Afghanistan: Obama Begins to Grasp the Reality of Karzai
On March 30, 2010, Dexter Filkins and Mark Landler of the New York Times reported that earlier this month the White House had canceled a…
Commentary on Eikenberry Cables, Intelligence on Afghanistan
A number of articles and comments are appearing which address the significance of the Eikenberry cables. Links to some of the most interesting will be…