Journal: Taliban Letter to Congress, Lobbying Starts Now

Taliban Seek to Sway U.S. Congress With ‘Open Letter’ Wall Street Journal, November 8, 2010 Matthew Rosenberg KABUL—Add another group to the list of people with a message for the newly elected U.S. Congress: the Taliban. In a rambling “open letter” to Congress, the Taliban’s spokesman said he wanted to present American lawmakers with “a …

Journal: Human Intelligence (HUMINT) Successes

(1) If true, probably a good idea. (2) Appears that indiscretions abound. Miami Herald November 6, 2010 Spy Agencies Use Ex-Captives To Infiltrate Al Qaeda By Paisley Dodds, Associated Press LONDON — Months after he was released from Guantánamo Bay, Abdul Rahman was back in the company of terrorist leaders along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. But …

NIGHTWATCH Extract: Anchors Aweigh in Bay of Bengal

India: The Chandigarh Tribune reported the results of last Wednesday’s bi-annual naval conference, at which Minister of Defence Antony spoke. Antony said the government approved the construction of two new naval bases in the Bay of Bengal, opposite the Malacca Strait and Sri Lanka. At present, the only Indian naval base in Bay of Bengal …

Journal: Putin to Obama–Stay in Afghanistan + RECAP

Mikhail  Gorbachev, who has been neutralized by the succession of Russian rulers, especially Putin) has just advised President Obama to get out of Afghanistan.  Jonathan Steele suggests here (also attached below) that Obama ought to heed that advice, because Obama is in a similar albeit somewhat worse position than Gorbachev was in 1985-6. Analogies are dangerous, because …

Journal: Taliban Ramps Up North, Holds South + RECAP

Taliban Influence Grows in North Insurgents Attack, Recruit, Adjudicate, Countering NATO’s Advance in South By YAROSLAV TROFIMOV PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan—The Taliban’s influence in northern Afghanistan has expanded in recent months from a few hotspots to much of the region, as insurgents respond to the U.S.-led coalition’s surge in the south by seizing new ground in areas …