By Benjamin H. Friedman
“Al-Qaeda bombmaker represents CIA’s worst fears.” That’s the headline of a Washington Post story on Yemeni terrorists’ attempt to down a U.S. bound flight by placing a bomb on the body of an operative that turned out to be a CIA and Saudi agent. By straining to alarm readers about the bomb-maker, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, [...]
Washington Post Defines Worst Fears Down is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
By Malou Innocent
Less than a week after President Barack Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan and proclaimed, “We broke the Taliban’s momentum,” the chairs of the Senate and House intelligence committees offered a candid assessment of the U.S. mission. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), alongside Representative Mike Rogers (R-MI), said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” “I [...]
U.S. Taxpayers Subsidize Afghan Insurgents is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
By Jim Harper
It’s a good bet that news of a new thwarted underwear bomber will underlie more than one argument for the strip-search machines American travelers encounter even at the domestic terminals of our airports. According to the AP: The plot involved an upgrade of the underwear bomb that failed to detonate aboard a jetliner over Detroit [...]
New Underwear Bomb, New Threat Information is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
By Christopher Preble
Sunday’s New York Times featured a front-page article by Thom Shanker on the U.S. military’s presence in Central America. In Honduras, American Special Forces operate out of three outposts—modeled on forward bases in Afghanistan and Iraq—providing support to Honduran Special forces. 600 U.S. troops operate across Central America and try to maintain a “discrete footprint” [...]
Nation Building Comes to Honduras is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
By Christopher Preble
According to Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK): President Obama’s “trip to Afghanistan is an attempt to shore up his national security credentials, because he has spent the past three years gutting our military.” You decide: From National Defense (050) outlays, in billions of constant 2012 dollars: 2009 – $696 2010 - $715 2011 – $716 2012 (projected) - $716 [...]
‘Gutting’ Our Military is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
By Malou Innocent
President Obama’s arrival in Afghanistan and signing of the strategic partnership agreement with President Karzai supposedly represents yet another corner turned in our nearly eleven year (and counting) war. The commander-in-chief’s arrival in secrecy, under darkness, and without live coverage of the signing is reminiscent of Bush the Younger’s many trips to war-torn Iraq and [...]
Security Pact Ensures America’s Presence in Afghanistan is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
By Christopher Preble
President Obama’s surprise visit to Afghanistan shows that he is determined to use the bin Laden killing to his political advantage. He also hopes to win points for ending two unpopular wars. That is understandable. If nothing else, it allows him to draw distinctions between both his predecessor, who failed to find bin Laden, and the eventual GOP nominee, [...]
Obama Visits Afghanistan, Perpetuates Misguided Policy is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
By Malou Innocent
The killing of Osama bin Laden marked a significant achievement in America’s long war against al Qaeda. Yet, following last year’s Navy SEAL raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, it became clear that disrupting, dismantling, and defeating al Qaeda did not require the occupation of distant lands. Indeed, even in the absence of the terrorist leader’s death, the [...]
Bin Laden’s Death, One Year On is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
By Christopher Preble
I guess it’s not a huge surprise that a writer at The Daily Kos would characterize Cato as “Republican-supporting” when it suits a purpose. Just for their future reference, here is a laundry list of positions taken by Cato scholars that most Republicans (Beltway Republicans, at least) tend to abhor: Cutting military spending The Iraq [...]
Hey Daily Kos, Cato Is Not A ‘Republican-supporting’ Institution is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
By John Mueller
The first anniversary of the murderous raid on Osama bin Laden’s hideaway presents an opportunity to evaluate the threat al Qaeda now poses. For its part, the Obama administration/reelection campaign seems more interested in using the event to score political points against Mitt Romney. But terrorism alarmists are more focused on al Qaeda itself and [...]
Why al Qaeda May Never Die is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
