Articles
General John Allen Salutes…His Wife
Marine General John Allen – caught up and cleared in the email scandal that brought down CIA director David Petraeus – told President Obama on Tuesday he would...
The Tragedy of General John Allen
Danny Klaidman of the now all-digital Newsweek says that’s what it is. The Marine four-star general, after getting good marks for his stewardship in...
Vetting the 34,000
With General John Allen’s announcement Tuesday that he is hanging up his Marine uniform after 35 years, there’s a dwindling number of senior U.S. officials who...
Allen Wrenched
The nomination of the US commander of the war in Afghanistan to command NATO and US European Command perhaps the Pentagon's most prestigious overseas...
General Disorder #1, General Disorder #2, &c.
When Marine General Anthony Zinni became chief of U.S. Central Command in 1997, he was stunned to find a Navy commander working for him dedicated to keeping...
Who Do You Think Is Right?
There are growing doubts about the chances for the U.S.-initiated war in Afghanistan to succeed. Rarely are opposing views crystallized as sharply as they were...
General Allen Takes the Hill
Despite a rash of recent bad news – culminating last week with the apparent slaughter of 16 Afghan civilians by a U.S. soldier – the architect of the campaign...
Night Raids’ Pact Struck
Time’s John Wendle files from Kabul” Night raid. The phrase bears with it images of both daring and terror — from a SEAL team taking down Osama bin Laden to a...
Truth: A Firing Offense
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan fired the No. 2 U.S. trainer of Afghan security forces Friday for "inappropriate public comments" about Afghan President...
Afghan Endgame
No longer any point in pretending. The U.S. is in such a rush to pull out of Afghanistan, it is risking the sacrifice of 2,086 U.S. troops and more than a...
John Allen Jr.: The Man Who Picked the Pope
While the media focused on a select group of probable successors to Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican expert for the National Catholic Reporter recalled the man who...
Milestones
DIED Andr*e Putman, 87, French interior designer who fashioned subdued, influential spaces for Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent, Barneys and Air France's...
Decision-Making, Lite
How much outside advice – from the Pentagon and other places – does a President need before making national-security decisions? Plainly he doesn't need any,...
Stormin’ Norman, 1934-2012
For those who came of age during World War II, or post-9/11, the death Thursday of retired Army general H. Norman Schwarzkopf may not be of great moment. But for...
The Cost of a Post-2014 U.S. Force
Thursday’s New York Times reports that the outgoing International Security Assistance Force commander, U.S. Marine General John Allen, has submitted three...
Goldilocking the “Insider Threat”
Make no mistake about it: when Afghan “insiders” turn their weapons on their U.S. and coalition allies and kill them, most either escape or are killed in the...
Lousy Monday Morning…
It’s tough getting up the week before Christmas to hear of those 10 young Afghan girls killed by a landmine Monday as they gathered firewood in Nangahar province...
