In recent days, i attended an off the record discussion with several senior Obama administration officials involved in international “stuff” — some foreign policy, some commerce, some defense and intelligence sector deal-making.
Wow. Thanks to Dan Fletcher and the team at Time who picked The Washington Note as one of their favorite blogs of the year. We are really honored — and caught off guard by the salute from Time.
(Photo Credit: White House Photostream) Joshua Walker has a good piece at Foreign Policy that takes a broad view of U.S.-Turkey relations and arrives at largely positive conclusions about the long-term prospects for the alliance.
Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) has died at 92. I had the privilege of speaking with Senator Byrd on many occasions but the most memorable was after his vote against the Iraq War Resolution.
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan may not be everyone’s cup of tea. I have no issues with her and think that she is a disciplined, fair-minded, creative thinker who will add a lot to the highest court in the land.
On Monday Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, announced the launch of a new counter-terrorism initiative, a hotline for members of radical Islamists groups to call where they can get advice for leaving the group.
The news of former ISAF commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s and his staff’s comments about senior administration officials and the President, followed by McChrystal’s sacking this morning, have sucked up much of the news about Afghanistan in the last few days. But while the war effort faces difficulty and certain questioning as Gen.
When groups start buying full page ads in Politico or any of the other leading political papers like The Hill or Roll Call, it’s a sure sign that folks see a policy battle ahead.
This is just a week of regime change, even if those going out and those coming in look very similar in overall perspective. General Stanley McChrystal has been replaced by counter-insurgency uber-guru General David Petraeus. Bottom line: No policy change in Afghanistan.
General Stanley McChrystal has more staff, more strategists, more financing, and more clout in the field than Richard Holbrooke, Karl Eikenberry, General Jim Jones, Vice President Biden and the NATO allies that he and his allies disparaged.
