SaddleBrooke Republican Club » Counterterrorism

On Afghanistan, Panetta Leaves Questions Unanswered

Christopher Preble — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:58:32 +0000

Secretary Panetta’s announcement that the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan will end as early as mid-2013 is a positive development. But it is long overdue and still leaves too many questions unanswered. After more than ten years of war in Afghanistan, the administration should follow through on its commitment to end combat operations and withdraw [...]

On Afghanistan, Panetta Leaves Questions Unanswered is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

A Scary Thought: Do We Really Need “If You See Something, Say Something?”

John Mueller — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:40:19 +0000

By John Mueller

At the National Sheriffs’ Association Conference in Washington last week, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano noted that riders on the DC Metro system can hear her voice repeatedly promoting her department’s “If You See Something, Say Something” terrorism hotline campaign. “That’s a scary thought,” she suggested. Even scarier to me is the campaign itself. It [...]

A Scary Thought: Do We Really Need “If You See Something, Say Something?” is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

The Defense Authorization Bill: Still Troubled

Benjamin H. Friedman — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:19:16 +0000

By Benjamin H. Friedman

Both Houses have now passed the 2012 Defense Authorization Bill. The president, having dropped his veto threat, will sign it today. That’s too bad. Authorization bills, keep in mind, are essentially a collection of restrictions and permissions slips for appropriations. In practice, however, budgeteers and appropriators have more say over how we spend. So while [...]

The Defense Authorization Bill: Still Troubled is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

Administration Bait and Switch in Afghanistan?

Doug Bandow — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:32:09 +0000

By Doug Bandow

U.S. combat troops are leaving Afghanistan in 2014. That was the consistent message which I received on my NATO-organized visit two months ago to a country now defined by war. The American and European governments have promised to provide long-term financial assistance and combat training, but they plan on shifting the actual fighting to Kabul’s [...]

Administration Bait and Switch in Afghanistan? is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

The Security Theater Cycle

Julian Sanchez — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:24:11 +0000

By Julian Sanchez

“What we obtain too cheap,” Thomas Paine famously wrote, “we esteem too lightly”—and it turns out that the converse holds true as well. It’s a well known and robustly confirmed finding of social psychology that people tend to ascribe greater value to things they had to pay a high cost to obtain. So, for instance, [...]

The Security Theater Cycle is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

The Real Trouble With the Defense Authorization Bill

Benjamin H. Friedman — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:30:29 +0000

By Benjamin H. Friedman

The Senate on Thursday passed the 2012 defense-authorization bill. It includes a controversial provision meant to put al-Qaeda suspects and their associates in military custody rather than prosecute them as criminals. The White House has rather weakly threatened a veto, complaining primarily that the bill undercuts their discretion in dealing with terrorists. If the White [...]

The Real Trouble With the Defense Authorization Bill is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

Digging Our Grave in Af-Pak

Malou Innocent — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:24:36 +0000

By Malou Innocent

Last week’s killing of two dozen Pakistani soldiers by a NATO airstrike shows why the war in Afghanistan will continue to weaken, not stabilize, neighboring Pakistan, contrary to what U.S. officials and analysts claim. Perhaps the gravest outcome from this latest “tragic, unintended incident” will be the widening gulf between Pakistan’s senior military leadership and [...]

Digging Our Grave in Af-Pak is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog