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To GOP Senators’ Dismay, Petraeus and Flournoy Affirm July 2011 ‘Inflection Point’ in Afghan War
At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday on strategy for the war in Afghanistan, a discussion of the Obama administration’s approach to securing the southern Afghan city of Kandahar — a crucial test for the escalated war — was overshadowed by a partisan dispute over the meaning of the More…
Petraeus, Flournoy Defend July 2011 Transition Date in Afghanistan
So far, this Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Afghanistan is less about Kandahar and more about parsing what President Obama meant when he established July 2011 as an “inflection point” for beginning a transition to Afghan security.
Trying to clarify after yesterday’s initial back-and-forth with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), More…
In Shadow of Assassination, Afghan & NATO Troops Launch Major Kandahar Firefight
According to an early-morning press release from ISAF, the NATO force in Afghanistan, Afghan troops supported by NATO forces have concluded a “five-day operation” north of Kandahar city that sounds major:
Directly contributing to the ongoing efforts of Hamkari security operations in Kandahar City and nearby districts, the five-day operation
Pentagon Upholds GTMO Reporters Ban but Suggests a Climbdown
Bryan Whitman, a principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, has ruled to keep four of my colleagues banned from reporting from Guantanamo Bay. Their offense, as you may recall, was to report the publicly available name of an interrogator who testified to Omar Khadr’s military commission More…
Maj. Gen. Campbell Becomes New Commander in Eastern Afghanistan
Lots of things were unclear about U.S. military strategy in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2008: the precise mission, the resources, the broader national dedication. But one thing wasn’t in doubt: The main area of U.S. focus was in Afghanistan’s Pashtun east, where the primary lines of Taliban infiltration from neighboring More…
Is Blackwater Founder Fleeing the United States?
Jeremy Scahill, the security company’s chief journalistic pursuer, reports:
Sources close to Blackwater and its secretive owner Erik Prince claim that the embattled head of the world’s most infamous mercenary firm is planning to move to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Middle Eastern nation, a major hub for
Kandahar District Governor Murdered
Shortly after Michele Flournoy, the undersecretary of defense for policy, told a Senate panel this morning that “we are regaining the initiative and insurgency is beginning to lose momentum,” insurgents assassinated Hajji Abdul Jabar, the governor of Arghandab district in Kandahar. According to The Wall Street Journal, insurgents More…
Flournoy, Petraeus Tell Senate Panel Afghan Training Mission Is Ahead of Schedule
Today’s now-postponed Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Afghanistan was overshadowed by Gen. David Petraeus’s brief but frightening loss of consciousness. But before Petraeus momentarily took ill about 45 minutes into the hearing, he and Michele Flournoy, the undersecretary of defense for policy, made a vigorous case that training More…
Petraeus Takes Ill in Senate Hearing … And Is OK!
I wasn’t able to make the Senate Armed Services Committee’s hearing this morning on Afghanistan owing to another commitment, so I had to catch the webcast. And a few minutes ago, right after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the ranking Republican on the panel, called witness Gen. David Petraeus one of More…
All Eyes on Kandahar Strategy
That’s going to be the focus of this morning’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing this morning with Gen. David Petraeus and Michele Flournoy, the undersecretary of defense for policy, and tomorrow’s complementary hearings in the House. Both The New York Times and The Washington Post have big stories on congressional More…
