The U.S. government can’t make up its mind when it comes to Osama bin Laden. Last Saturday, it held an unusual press conference where it released a snippet of video showing a feeble, aging terrorist staring at his flickering image on a small TV screen. On Wednesday, government officials were whispering about bin Laden’s bloody diary …
Pentagon
A Sobering Read on Afghanistan
Over on Small Wars Journal this morning, AfPak vet Paul Overby is asking tough questions about the way forward in Afghanistan:
In the challenge of extricating ourselves from the war in Afghanistan, the most critical element is the actual and emotional heart of the opposition we are facing–the Taliban. This war which is taking an
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Tet II: Vietnam, 1968 = Afghanistan, 2011?
Are the Afghan insurgents stealing from the Viet Cong’s playbook? Colleague Tony Karon thinks so, over at Time‘s Global Spin blog.
Aye-Aye Captain: Reverse Course!
The Navy always seems to have troubles with sex and gender relations. Doesn’t matter if it’s the hetero- or homosexual, they just seem to flub it more than the other services. So it has happened once again: the sea service has just changed its mind on telling its chaplains they will be allowed to conduct same-sex marriages and civil …
Osama Is Dead, but ‘bin Ladenism’ Endures in Southeast Asia
So is Osama bin Laden’s death likely to end his brand of terror in southeast Asia? Unfortunately, according to Maria Ressa, an expert on the topic, no. Check out her interview with colleague Emily Raulala on Time’s Global Spin blog.
The Vexing U.S.-Pakistani Relationship Heads South, Post-bin Laden
Pakistan is a recipe with all the ingredients for disaster: start with an engineer who steals blueprints for nuclear weapons, and succeeds in constructing the Islamic world’s first atomic bomb. Then he peddles those schematics to pretty much anyone will to pay. The country, a fragile democracy, is actually run by the army, part of …
China $yndrome
It was a month ago that we noted in the dead-tree version of Time the insanity of borrowing money hand-over-fist from China to help fund the U.S. government, including the American military (the U.S. is borrowing 40% of what it spends, much of it from Beijing). “We are borrowing cash from China to pay for weapons that we would …
Global Reach = Global Power
Inside Navy SEAL Team 6
The first rule of Navy SEAL Team 6 is you don’t talk about SEAL Team 6. In fact, the U.S. military has never publicly acknowledged its existence. But over the past week, tales of the Navy’s most elite squadron have blazed like wildfire, as the SEALs’ takedown of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, has generated white-hot …
Right out of John Boyd’s strategy: disconnect, isolate & disempower your enemy
The account emerging from the Pentagon regarding Osama Bin Laden’s life in that million-dollar compound reads like the last days of Howard Hughes. The guy had been reduced to puttering around with his plots on his computer and dying his beard in anticipation of his great comeback video. He is videotaped …
Even More SEALs: Navy to Name Warship After SEAL Hero Saturday
SEALs go through their infamous Hell Week during their training, when physical stress amid mental duress and sleep deprivation breaks nearly all strong, smart men. This past week, it seems, we have all been through SEAL Week.
And it’s not over yet: Saturday morning the Navy will christen USS Michael Murphy, a guided-missile …
Lines in the Sand: House Chairman Overseeing Military Spending Challenges President Obama
“With equipment that is falling apart and a war entering its tenth year, the strain on the troops–our most precious resource–can only be described as severe.”
In his May 5 speech at The Heritage Foundation, Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, made it clear that even with the recent …
President Thanks SEAL-Drivers of Task Force 160 Today
President Obama is going to thank some of those involved in Monday’s mission against Osama bin Laden during his visit to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, on Friday. Whether or not the SEALs will be there isn’t known: they’re based 500 miles away, at Fort Bragg, N.C. But some key enablers live at the Kentucky base: the Night Stalkers of Task …