al-qaida

The Keyboard Commandos want Obama to be tough

Dick Cheney, David Brooks and others urge the president to man up. Why is foreign policy always about machismo?

By Gene Lyons Nov 4, 2009

Obama's foreign policy report card

You'd never know it from the MSM, but he deserves high grades for his work so far in Iran, Iraq and Pakistan

By Juan Cole October 26, 2009
"Afghanistan is Mr. Obama's war of choice"

Foreign relations expert Richard Haass says in an interview that Afghanistan is no longer a necessary war

By Gregor Peter Schmitz and Gabor Steingart September 28, 2009
Bin Laden: U.S. support of Israel led to 9/11

Afghanistan's election mess could mean trouble for the U.S.

By Juan Cole September 14, 2009
What is Obama defending in Afghanistan?

Obama has to be more specific and systematic about his goals in Afghanistan before we can judge his strategy there

By Juan Cole August 18, 2009

"It is pointless to talk to al-Qaida"

Joseph Nye talks about Obama's use of hard and soft power in Afghanistan, and what he learned from Henry Kissinger

By Gabor Steingart and Gregor Peter Schmitz August 18, 2009
Do CIA cables show doctors monitoring torture?

Documents obtained by the ACLU seem to show that medical personnel monitored the waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah

By Sheri Fink May 28, 2009
"As president, I refuse to allow this problem to fester"

President Obama gives a speech on Guantanamo Bay, torture and national security

May 21, 2009
We tortured to justify war

Dick Cheney keeps saying "enhanced interrogation" was used to stop imminent attacks, but evidence is mounting that the real reason was to invent evidence linking Saddam Hussein to al-Qaida.

By Joe Conason May 14, 2009
Soufan: CIA torture actually hindered our intelligence gathering

An FBI agent testifies that an al-Qaida prisoner provided useful intelligence until the CIA got rough -- and casts doubt on Bush's statements about the effectiveness of harsh interrogations.

By Mark Benjamin May 14, 2009
Torture works sometimes -- but it's always wrong

The "ticking bomb" scenario only happens on TV. Those, like Dick Cheney, who cite it are leading society down a fatal slippery slope of abuse.

By Gary Kamiya April 23, 2009
Torture planning began in 2001, Senate report reveals

Bush officials said they only tortured terrorists after they wouldn't talk. New evidence shows they planned torture soon after 9/11 -- and used it to find links between al-Qaida and Saddam.

By Mark Benjamin April 22, 2009
Rumsfeld: Architect of torture

The secretary of defense began laying the groundwork for detainee abuse years before Abu Ghraib.

By Mike Madden April 22, 2009
Obama's domino theory

The president sounds like he's channeling Cheney or McCain -- or a Cold War hawk afraid of international communism -- when he talks about the war in Afghanistan.

By Juan Cole March 30, 2009
You can't go home (to Yemen) again

What will Obama do with Guantanamo's single largest group of detainees? One hundred Yemenis wait to go home -- but those who've already returned to Yemen didn't find a warm welcome.

By Letta Tayler March 29, 2009
Obama unveils new plan for Afghanistan

The president announces he's sending an additional 4,000 troops and trainers to what's now being dubbed "Obama's war."

By Alex Koppelman March 27, 2009
Failure in Afghanistan, catastrophe in Pakistan

William Dalrymple's review of Ahmed Rashid's "Descent into Chaos" tells a tale of neocon-concocted utter disaster

By Andrew Leonard January 22, 2009
Does Obama understand his biggest foreign-policy challenge?

The president-elect wants to work with the Pakistani government to "stamp out" terror. It's not nearly that simple.

By Juan Cole December 12, 2008
Report: Torture started with Bush

After a two-year investigation, the Senate names names -- Bush, Tenet, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Gonzales, Addington, Rice.

By Mark Benjamin December 12, 2008
Al-Qaida deputy insults Obama

Ayman al-Zawhri says Barack Obama is "the direct opposite of honorable black Americans" like Malcolm X.

By Alex Koppelman November 19, 2008
New evidence suggests Ron Suskind is right

What was an Iraqi politician doing at CIA headquarters just days before he distributed a fake memo incriminating Saddam Hussein in 9/11?

By Joe Conason August 8, 2008
McCain's amazing Iraq somersault

The "straight talker" has trashed anyone who dared suggest a withdrawal date. Now he's floated one of his own.

By Joe Conason May 16, 2008
An "October surprise" to help Obama?

Gabriel Schoenfeld suggests terrorists may try to help Barack Obama's electoral prospects this fall, but history doesn't support his take.

By Alex Koppelman May 12, 2008
Charlie Wilson's unfinished war

The legendary Texas congressman talks about his secret 1980s Afghan war (and its blowback), the Obama campaign and being better-looking than Tom Hanks.

By Andrew O'Hehir April 22, 2008