2. Pakistan Flips Off US on Copter: Losers Can't Be Choosers
It is no surprise at all that Pakistan's intelligence services would show Chinese military staff the wrecked "stealth helicopter" in Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad compound.
"Losers can't be choosers," former Pakistan ISI Chief Hamid Gul told a packed audience at last year's Al Jazeera Forum in Doha.
Gul was sharing his impression that America had essentially lost the battle with the Taliban in Afghanistan -- but that the Taliban would be 'honorable', in his words, and would allow America a graceful but loser's exit out of the country.
Gul was sharing his impression that America had essentially lost the battle with the Taliban in Afghanistan -- but that the Taliban would be 'honorable', in his words, and would allow America a graceful but loser's exit out of the country.
3. Afghanistan's bid to boost tourism
Bamian in central Afghanistan has one of the most beautiful landscapes and natural settings in the world.
Its natural dams have turquoise waters and its mountains hosted an international ski championships last year.
However, security concerns can be a deterrent for visitors and authorities are making efforts to transform the area around the country's number one tourist destination.
Karen Zarindast reports.
As we’ve noted, relatively little of U.S. aid to Pakistan is contingent on the country’s cooperation with U.S. goals of counterterrorism and nonproliferation. A story today in the Wall Street Journal suggests that could be changing, though the details are still hazy.
The Wall Street Journal, quoting anonymous U.S. officials, outlined a new White House approach to Pakistan that may make billions of dollars in security funding dependent on Pakistani progress in specific areas.
5. Dominoes on the Durand Line
The death of Osama bin Laden presents an important opportunity to reassess U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. Current U.S. thinking centers on two interests. The first is preventing al Qaeda and its Taliban allies from reestablishing a safe haven. The second is preventing the violence in Afghanistan from destabilizing Pakistan, thus putting its nuclear forces at risk and increasing the likelihood of nuclear terrorism. Coalition strategy is based on the assumptions that the only way to deny al Qaeda safe haven is by building a strong central Afghan state and that Pakistan's nuclear complex will become increasingly vulnerable to militant attacks if the Taliban succeeds in Afghanistan.
Both assumptions are wrong. The United States does not need to build a state in Afghanistan because the conditions that allowed al Qaeda safe haven in the 1990s have permanently changed. Moreover, the steps needed to help Pakistan secure its nuclear arsenal have nothing to do with the war in Afghanistan. Policymakers should scale back their ambitions in Afghanistan. If they do so, they could cut troop levels by 80–90 percent while defending core U.S. interests and dramatically reducing the costs to America in both blood and treasure.
6. Afghanistan's dysfunctional security agencies
As NATO begins handing over security control, Afghans are increasingly relying on their own forces to fight the Taliban and other insurgents. But a spate of recent militant attacks show Afghan security agencies failing to work with each other, reports the BBC's Bilal Sarwary
7. Is China Freeloading Off The U.S. Military's Work In Afghanistan And Iraq?
China’s limited support for the US-led counterinsurgency campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, despite the growing Chinese economic stake in these countries, has provoked some irritation among US observers over China’s ‘free riding’ on the back of dead European, American, and Afghan or Iraqi soldiers. S. Frederick Starr, chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, caught the mood well when he said some might see it as, ‘We do the heavy lifting…And they pick the fruit.’
8. The Limits of U.S. Assistance to Pakistan
The U.S. decision to defer nearly $800 million in counterterrorism funding to Pakistan is the latest turn in a downward spiral of U.S.-Pakistan relations. Given the ejection of U.S. military trainers from Pakistan, ongoing concerns over the misuse of U.S. aid dollars, and mounting evidence of Pakistani complicity with insurgent groups, this step was necessary. But a more comprehensive review of all aid to Pakistan is now essential to weigh the costs and benefits of our assistance and determine the best aid package for advancing U.S. security interests in both Pakistan and the broader region.
9. China and the Persian Gulf
Beijing, in its quest looking for energy resources, is slowly and steadily building ties with the resource-rich Persian Gulf states. What implications does this have for Washington which constantly looks to counterbalance China's influence in the global arena? This new book, edited by program associate Bryce Wakefield and program assistant Susan L. Levenstein, examines China’s role in the Persian Gulf, evolving views on China from within the Gulf, and what China’s presence means for the United States.
1 comment:
A word of thanks for your tireless commitment to information sharing. You might be interested in my upcoming talk Sept 6th at the Lib of Congress on my deployment to Iraq (Anbar) in 2010-11. Noon in the African and Middle Easten Division.
Michael Albin
Springfield, VA
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