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New Atlanticist

Aug 12, 2009

How Secure are Pakistan’s Nukes?

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

Is Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal theft-proof? Former President Pervez Musharraf and his successor Asif Ali Zardari and their army and intelligence chiefs repeatedly have assured both the Bush and Obama administrations that their 80-odd nuclear weapons are as secure as the U.S. arsenal of some 7,000 city busters. The Pakistanis have separated warheads from delivery systems […]

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Aug 4, 2009

Rasmussen: Afghanistan NATO’s Top Priority

By James Joyner

New NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen has wasted no time in signaling that the war in Afghanistan is the Alliance’s top priority, holding a teleconference on the conflict, reorganizing the mission’s command structure and calling for more EU help in his first days on the job.

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New Atlanticist

Jul 30, 2009

Taliban an Unflippable Enemy

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

Geopolitical trendies ran a new one up the international flagpole to see if anyone saluted. It claimed to be the magic formula on “How to Win in Afghanistan.”

Afghanistan Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Jul 29, 2009

British Conservatives Back Away from Afghanistan

By Steve Hynd

In two scathing op-eds today, the conservative Daily Mail set out a framework for British conservative thinking on the ongoing Afghanistan occupation which is seriously at odds with their American cousins.

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New Atlanticist

Jul 28, 2009

Afghanistan Exit Scenario?

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

At the beginning of 2009 Gen. David Petraeus, the new CENTCOM commander, assumed command of a huge theater that stretches from the Horn of Africa to Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, right up to the Indian border.

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Jul 20, 2009

UK’s Afghanistan Patience Waning

By James Joyner

July has been the deadliest month so far for American forces in Afghanistan, with 55 killed already this month.  Despite the trend toward Americanization of the conflict, however, today’s crash of a RAF Tornado fighter brought the month’s toll to 19 British troops killed.  Given the extreme controversy over the war in the UK, that […]

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New Atlanticist

Jul 20, 2009

Will COIN Work in Afghanistan?

By Don Snow

The Obama administration has invested a great deal (one can argue too much) of its national security capital in the war on Afghanistan, and the chief instrument for realizing that investment has been the application of counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine to the situation. This application, in turn, is based on putting into action the Army and […]

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Jul 10, 2009

Afghanistan Caveats Coming to End?

By James Joyner

General John Craddock, the outgoing SACEUR, says the caveats that constrain how some countries’ NATO forces are used “increase the risk to every service member deployed in Afghanistan and bring increased risk to mission success” and are “a detriment to effective command and control.” 

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Jul 9, 2009

Where are the Local Forces in Afghanistan and Iraq?

By Bernard Finel

In both Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States has more expansive and ambitious goals than our local allies.

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Jul 8, 2009

Are you Passionate about Afghanistan?

By Kenneth Payne

No? That could be a problem. Yesterday, Richard Holmes wrote this in his tribute to Lt Col Rupert Thorneloe, the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards commanding officer who was killed in Afghanistan on July 1:

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