Details of a 17-point plan for Swat Valley agreed to earlier this week between Pakistani forces and Sufi Muhammad, head of the Tehreek-e Nafaz-e Shariat-e Mohammad (TNSM) weren't made immediately available at the time of its signing, but it seems now that it is just...
Concerns Over Special Forces May Stall Already Limited Iraq Pullout
Most of the previous criticism of President Barack Obama's "pullout" plan from Iraq has centered around it being less a pullout plan than a plan to continue the war indefinitely. But after a week of getting used to the idea that 50,000 troops will remain on the ground...
Clinton: Russia Could Join Missile Defense System
Ahead of her meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raised a rather unique possible solution for the controversial missile defense system in Eastern Europe. Russia, she insisted, might have the opportunity for "joint...
Supreme Court Dismisses Case on Indefinite Detention of Legal Resident
The Supreme Court today vacated a ruling by the US Court of Appeals in the case of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, a legal resident of the United States who was declared by then-President Bush to be an enemy combatant and held without charges for several years. They did...
Rival Candidates Urge Karzai to Resign
Just one day after Afghanistan's Election Commission overturned President Hamid Karzai's decision to hold the presidential election, as the constitution requires, before his term ends on May 22, rival candidates said they felt Karzai should resign at the end of his...
Lieberman Demanding ‘Full Autonomy’ as Foreign Minister
Avigdor Lieberman, the controversial leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party which scored a major gain in last month's elections, seems set to join Benjamin Netanyahu's would-be coalition government, putting the role of foreign minister in the hands of one of these least...
Clinton Proposes Afghanistan Conference, Then Presses for Iran’s Inclusion
Today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton proposed a high-level international conference on Afghanistan, which would be sponsored by the United Nations and would seek to arrive at a "common set of principles, perhaps embodied in a chairman's statement, on a common way...
Clinton Calls for Fresh Start in NATO-Russia Ties
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for NATO to make "a fresh start" with Russia, saying the alliance "must find ways to work constructively with Russia where we share areas of common interest, including helping the people of Afghanistan." Secretary Clinton says...
Kurdistan Expansion Threatens US Pullout Plans
Bloomberg is reporting today that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has been raising its flags and deploying its military in areas outside of their official borders. One Kurdish military officer explained that “Saddam kicked out Kurds, Arabs came in. Kurds are...
Obama Calls for Crackdown on Defense Spending Waste
In an event today at the White House, President Barack Obama called for a crackdown on wasteful defense spending and said there must be more competition in the contracting process. Obama declared the "days of giving defense contractors a blank check are over." The...