The security agreement signed in Kabul this week is being touted as a step toward stability and peace but it will likely bring neither. By allowing the U.S. to maintain military bases and forces in Afghanistan beyond 2014 it will prolong the war. Under current U.S. military strategy, which will be ratified at the forthcoming [...]
Archive for the ‘Counterterrorism’ Category
The U.S. Afghan (In)Security Pact
Posted in Afghanistan/Pakistan, Counterterrorism on April 25, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Drones and the human cost of war
Posted in Afghanistan/Pakistan, Counterterrorism, Drones on January 24, 2012 | 2 Comments »
The debate about drones continues on the pages of Cato Unbound. You can check out the site and become part of the conversation here. In my most recent posting I counter Daniel Goure’s assertion that drones do not increase the temptation to intervene militarily. I and many others have argued to the contrary, that drones [...]
License to Kill
Posted in Afghanistan/Pakistan, Counterterrorism, tagged counterterrorism policy, drone, panetta, political solutions on January 10, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Do drone weapons make war more likely? Evidence suggests that countries may indeed be more inclined to use military force when they have highly accurate weapons that can be used without risking the lives of their service members. Drone warfare has become a centerpiece of U.S. counterterrorism policy. Secretary of Defense Panetta has called drone [...]
Just Back from Kabul
Posted in Afghanistan/Pakistan, Counterterrorism, Women's Rights on October 27, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Last week I traveled to Afghanistan as part of a delegation from the Dutch development agency Cordaid. I was there to update the findings of our report last year, Afghan Women Speak, and learn how the security transition and initial stages of Western troop withdrawal are affecting the prospects for peace and human rights. Entering [...]
Debating Drones: Convenient Killing?
Posted in Afghanistan/Pakistan, Counterterrorism, Drones on October 21, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Last week I was on The News Hour debating the question of drone weapons. Drone technology is spreading rapidly. As many as 50 countries are developing or purchasing these systems, including China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Iran. Even non-state actors are involved. Hezbollah reportedly has deployed an Iranian-designed drone. Iran is developing a new drone warcraft with [...]
Reflections on the 10th anniversary
Posted in Afghanistan/Pakistan, Counterterrorism, Iraq and Iran, Nonviolence on September 9, 2011 | 1 Comment »
I’ve been invited to The Hague this week by the International Center on Counter-Terrorism for the presentation “Reflecting on the Effects of Counter-Terrorism Measures since 9/11: A Civil Society Perspective.” My talk focuses on the erosion of political freedom and human rights in many parts of the world resulting from repressive counter-terrorism measures. It feels [...]
Bin Laden’s gone; now let’s end the war
Posted in Afghanistan/Pakistan, Counterterrorism on May 2, 2011 | 3 Comments »
The killing of Osama bin Laden brings partial closure to the long war against Al Qaeda. It is a credit to the police, intelligence and military Special Forces professionals who carried out the job, and to President Obama for maintaining persistent focus on eliminating the threat from Al Qaeda. This is an occasion for many [...]
Democracy: The antidote to terrorism
Posted in Counterterrorism, Nonviolence on February 21, 2011 | 7 Comments »
The democratic revolution in Egypt poses a challenge to Al Qaeda. The movement’s #2 leader, Ayman Al Zawahiri, was tortured in Mubarak’s jails in the 1980s. He emerged a hardened murderer, convinced that terror is the only way to topple corrupt Arab regimes and hurt the “far enemy” in America that supports such governments. This [...]
When War Trumps Reason
Posted in Afghanistan/Pakistan, Counterterrorism on October 20, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Reading Bob Woodward’s Obama’s Wars is giving me a headache. The problem is not Woodward’s writing and reporting, which are first class as usual, but rather the story of Obama’s fall 2009 strategy review itself. His account shows a president who is deeply skeptical of military solutions. “I want an exit strategy,” the president insisted [...]
Obama’s War
Posted in Afghanistan/Pakistan, Counterterrorism on September 22, 2010 | 2 Comments »
A grim milestone was reached last month. US casualties in Afghanistan during the Obama administration have now surpassed those of the Bush era. During the eight years of the Bush administration, total US fatalities in Afghanistan numbered 578. As of September 22 fatalities during the Obama administration were reported at 646. Afghanistan is now truly [...]
