Al Qaeda On The Rise: Filling The Vacuum O's Leaving -- Arthur Herman, New York Post
Just when you thought it was safe to leave Iraq, al Qaeda is back -- with a vengeance.
According to The New York Times, al Qaeda operatives are undoing the Anbar Awakening, which secured the American surge back in 2008. Under a hailstorm of brutal Islamicist violence, the Sunni sheiks living there are now abandoning their pro-American stance and going back to the terrorists.
Meanwhile, we learn that Osama bin Laden, far from cowering in a cave with goats as his only friends, is holding court in northwest Pakistan and even supervising operations from his base -- while other al Qaeda operatives stream back into Afghanistan for new attacks. That puts still more pressure on a government that's on the verge of tossing in the towel to al Qaeda's old ally, the Taliban.
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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials
Has US Turned Afghanistan Corner? -- Robert Dreyfus, The Diplomat
Talks with the Taliban? -- Max Boot, Commentary Magazine
What does the spending review mean for security policy? -- BBC
Defence review: Can Britain still pack a punch? -- The Telegraph
Britain’s Biggest Security Threat -- Newsweek
UK military 'still first rate', says US -- Defense Management
British Forces: Still Punching Above Their Weight? -- Time Magazine
Defense Review: Painful, but not fatal -- The Economist
UK Cuts Preview For US: CSIS -- DoD Buzz
Even Ayatollahs use Twitter -- Mohammad Sagha, Foreign Policy
Steady as she goes on North Korea -- Bruce Klingner, Asia Times
Tuesday Map: Africa is really, really big -- Joshua Keating, Foreign Policy
Rare earths, explained: Analysis: How China’s got us over a barrel on rare earths, key to iPods and guided missiles. -- David Case, GlobalPost