Let’s do this as an internal debate. Part of Me: You saw that WSJ piece about al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and al-Shebaab moving into the fore of al-Q’s operations targeting the U.S., right? Another Part: Oh yeah. It struck me as commensurate with how John Brennan has framed the mutating threat from al-Qaeda’s failed-or-failing-state [...]

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 709-10 August 09, 2010 DOD Identifies Marine Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two Marines who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. The following Marines died Aug. 7 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan: Lance Cpl. Kevin M. Cornelius, 20, of Ashtabula, Ohio. Pfc. Vincent E. Gammone [...]

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 708-10 August 09, 2010 DOD Identifies Army Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died Aug. 8 at Zhari Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked their unit using an improvised explosive device. Killed were: Sgt. Andrew C. Nicol, [...]

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 705-10 August 09, 2010 DOD Identifies Marine Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Cpl. Max W. Donahue, 23, of Highlands Ranch, Colo., died Aug. 7 of wounds received Aug. 4 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was [...]

Yes, I went there, for Danger Room. Special guest appearance by the “Separation” interrogation technique authorized by the infamous Appendix M. Now a word of recognition. USA Today covered two of the same topics I covered in Afghanistan before I did. Not just touring Parwan (shout to Alan Gomez), but also the MC-12 (shout to [...]

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 702-10 August 06, 2010 DOD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Master Sgt. Jared N. Van Aalst, 34, of Laconia, N.H., died Aug. 4 in Kunduz province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered while his unit was conducting combat operations. [...]

“Matthew Alexander,” he of the team that took down Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq, reminds us that Park51 is a counterterrorism tool. The Cordoba House would be a powerful symbol of U.S. tolerance and freedom that will stand in direct contradiction to al Qaeda’s narrative that Americans hate Muslims. As a symbol, its construction demonstrates [...]

For reasons that I shall refrain from speculating upon, my pal Brian Katulis can’t resist tweeting about p0rnograp#y in Iraq, something the AP holds out as a “window” (Tom Ricks alert!) into the country’s “chaotic politics.” Ah, but porno in Iraq is hardly anything new or anything sotto voce, as I learned in March 2007 [...]

Dexter Filkins’ Baradar-capture story yesterday — well, it made me regret a lot of starry-eyed presumptions I made when the capture occurred. But not the logic behind them! Check: “We picked up Baradar and the others because they were trying to make a deal without us,” said a Pakistani security official, who, like numerous people [...]

First up: Right, I’m home. No more breathing in clouds of Bagram dust or freezing in the bellies of C-17s. Thanks so much to Karaka, Adam, Mikey, Jenn and Matthew for their excellent guestblogging. Now I thought I’d pay some tribute to the next-up. 1. Wesley Morgan. I had the good fortune of bunking with [...]