Afghanistan Watch: Trophy Killing in War

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Jon Boone of The Guardian reports: Commanders in Afghanistan are bracing themselves for possible riots and public fury triggered by the publication of “trophy” photographs of US soldiers posing with the dead bodies of defenseless Afghan civilians they killed.

War Requires Thinking Through All Scenarios

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Whether it was by design or because of Senator Richard Lugar’s broadside that the White House could not just roll into any conflict it wanted to without support of Congress, President Obama has kept American exposure in the growing conflict in Libya fairly minimal. This is a good thing.

Caution Needed with Libya

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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy This morning, I shared some of my reactions on MSNBC’s The Daily Rundown to the then breaking news of Gaddafi announcing he was going to abide by a cease fire and halt military operations. In my view, he is buying time.

Petraeus, Afghanistan, and American Strategy

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It’s not hard to overlook the fact that the United States is still engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan. But we are. Although we have been spending tens of billions of dollars a year in Afghanistan, we have only gotten the “inputs right” in the last six months, according to General David Petraeus.

Responding to Gaddafi: What to Really Do? Risks?

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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy This is a clip of my conversation tonight with Rachel Maddow about the costs and benefits of the UN resolution authorizing any measure than occupation to protect the Libyan people from Moammer Gaddafi.

Why are Saudi troops in Bahrain?

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This is a guest note by Salman Al-Rashid, a Master’s student at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and an intern with the New America Foundation’s Middle East Task Force. Saudi Arabia, like many other states in the Arab world, is confronted with serious socioeconomic and political challenges.