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Obama Can't Count on Karzai

Kate Schuler — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:48:00 -0500

Before President Obama releases his strategy for Afghanistan, he should think twice about fully re-embracing Hamid Karzai.

By rigging the first round of elections with more than a million fraudulent votes, rigging the second round of elections with more than 500 'ghost' polling places to generate another flood of fake ballots and refusing to reform the electoral system, incumbent President Hamid Karzai abused his office to steal a democratic election from the people of Afghanistan.

Landing a Job Like Getting into Harvard

Erin Drankoski — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:50:00 -0500

The 650,000 jobs created or saved by the stimulus package so far make up only a small step toward correcting the gap between the tens of millions of unemployed people and the few openings that those people are fighting over.

Even the administration's goal of creating 3.5 million jobs is far below what the economy really needs. With an official unemployment rate of 10.2 percent, the gap between the number of full-time job openings and the number of people who are unemployed has widened.

Former US official: Resignation Over Afghan War is Drawing Support | CNN

Cecille Isidro — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:35:00 -0400

CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen disagreed with Hoh's assessment of Afghanistan. "It's not that our presence there is causing the problem," he said. ...

Pakistan Drone War Takes a Toll on Militants -- and Civilians

Erin Drankoski — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:07:00 -0400

The Obama administration has dramatically ratcheted up the American drone warfare program in Pakistan. Since President Obama took office, U.S. drone strikes have killed about a half-dozen militant leaders along with hundreds of other people, a quarter of whom were civilians.

As a result of the unprecedented 42 strikes by drone aircraft into Pakistan authorized by the Obama administration, aimed at Taliban and al Qaeda networks based there, about a half-dozen leaders of militant organizations have been killed.

Afghanistan Haunted by Ghost of Vietnam | CNN

Cecille Isidro — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:11:00 -0400

Peter Beinart, who recently wrote an article called "Bury the Vietnam Analogy" on thedailybeast.com, has said there is a real sense of national identity for ...

U.S. Is Losing Afghan War on Two Fronts

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:27:00 -0400

We are losing in Afghanistan, on two fronts. The most important center of gravity of the conflict -- as the Taliban well recognizes -- is the American public. And now, most Americans are opposed to the war.

For years, Afghanistan was "the forgotten war," and when Americans started paying attention again -- roughly around the time of President Obama's inauguration -- what they saw was not a pretty sight: a corrupt Afghan government, a world-class drug trade, a resurgent Taliban and steadily rising U.S. casualties.

Key Democrats Push to Reverse Steep Physician Payment Cuts | CNN Political Ticker

Cecille Isidro — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:17:00 -0400

... health care costs and would in fact make the deficit situation far worse," said Maya macguineas, head of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. ...

Democrats Push to Reverse Medicare Payment Cuts to Doctors | CNN

Cecille Isidro — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:05:00 -0400

... care reform in order to get control of the fiscal challenges we face," said Maya MacGuineas, head of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. ...

Obama's 'Unclenched Fist' Won the Prize

Erin Drankoski — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:10:00 -0400

Cynics will say that Oslo was jealous that Copenhagen, Denmark, scored a visit from President Obama, and giving him a Nobel was the only way to get him to Norway.

But the Nobel Committee's decision to make Obama the only sitting U.S. president since Woodrow Wilson to receive the Nobel Peace Prize shows the committee's clear-headed assessment that Obama's "unclenched fist" approach to dealing with the world's most thuggish leaders has had a constructive, systemic impact on the world's expectations of itself.

U.S.-Pakistan Goals Coming into Alignment

Erin Drankoski — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:26:00 -0400

It hasn't been too often in the past couple of years that you could write about good news from Pakistan. But if there is a silver lining to the atrocities that have plagued the country in the past several years, it is the fact that the Pakistani public, government and military are increasingly seeing the jihadist militants on their territory in a hostile light.