by Eric Martin Steven Simon, whose work I admire greatly, discusses the negative reaction to the decision to try Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in a civilian court.  After summarily dispensing with the more inane critiques of Obama's decision, Simon takes on the notion that a trial could serve as a platform ...

by Eric Martin Johann Hari has a fascinating piece in The Independentthat recounts his interviews with several British nationals that have made the journey from active participantsin jihadi/terrorist causes and back.  Hari's quest to find out how and why certain people join terrorist groups, or espouse ...

By Lindsay Beyerstein Sarahpalin_200908_477x600_7   Newsweek used this photograph of Sarah Palin as this week's cover shot. The headline reads, "How do you solve a problem like Sarah? She's bad news for the GOP--and everybody else, too." It's a damned good question, and I couldn't think of a better ...

by Eric Martin Colonel Gian Gentile, the antidote to the epidemic of irrational exuberance invested in the ability of counterinsurgency doctrine (COIN) to solve any insoluble military/political conundrum, offers yet another reality check: History shows that occupation by foreign armies with the intent ...

by Eric Martin Apropos of nothing in particular, this childhood remembrance by one of Osama bin Laden's sons published in Vanity Fair caught my interest.  A brief excerpt from an otherwise intriguing piece: Since the time I could observe and reason, I have mainly known my father to be composed, no matter ...

by Eric Martin Last week, the Washington Post published a story detailing some of the tensions between the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as recently discussed on this site.  According to the Post story, the Taliban is increasingly assuming a dominant role (or returning to a dominant role after the down period that ...

by von I realize that the blog has been a bit sparse of late, post-wise.  We're working on it.  In a meantime, here are a couple of loosely-related rants that I've been keeping to myself for far too long: Rant One.  Based solely on this clip, I give 90-1 odds against M. Night Shyamalan's version of ...

by Eric Martin The news emanating from the White House is that President Obama is unsatisfied with the various proposals for Afghanistan policy recently submitted by his review team (each of which called for a substantial increase in the number of troops, with indefinite timelines).  He has asked the ...

by Eric Martin In an effort to cobble together a plausible number of boots on the ground to match thegrandiose mish-mosh strategy of multi-decade counterinsurgency, counterterrorism and nation building in Afghanistan, US forces are, again, relying on the ability to raise, outfit and train highly motivated, ...

by Eric Martin By popular request, an open thread.  Possible topics of conversation: Election results in New Jersey, Virginia and upstate New York - as well as ballot measures in Maine.  Or: whatever suits your fancy. Rock on.