Back in 2001 Americans were told that the Taliban represented a threat to the freedom of not just Americans, but the Afghans themselves. Their brutal regime turned that country into a thugocracy, stripping the rights of both women and men alike, but most definitely women. So we went in and toppled the Taliban.

Yet here we are 10 years later, and though things are undoubtedly better, women still face prison time for adultery, even though they were raped. Such was the story of Gulnaz, an Afghan woman who was raped over two years ago, and produced a child from the act. She was originally given two years, which was then increased to 12, and then cut back down to three. The price for her “early” release? Marry her rapist.| MORE ›

Tonight President Barack Obama announced a plan for the withdrawal of the 33,000 “surge” troops he ordered to Afghanistan in 2009. 10,000 of the troops will be home by the end of this year, and 23,000 more will return by September of next year.| MORE ›

I really don’t get the news that General David Petraeus will be appointed to head the CIA. As far as I’m aware, Petraeus doesn’t have extensive intelligence gathering experience. Then again, neither does Leon Panetta, the guy who he will replace.| MORE ›

At The Week, Daniel Larison makes a case for the disbandment of NATO, saying that it is now being used as cover to expand American interests into the Middle East and Africa (emph. mine):| MORE ›

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Obama’s Plan and the Key Battleground
By George Friedman

U.S. President Barack Obama announced the broad structure of his Afghanistan strategy in a speech at West Point on Tuesday evening. The strategy had three core elements.| MORE ›

As the news came in of the death of Bin Laden, print and television media around the world rushed to report the story, millions of people sent each other text messages as others took the news globally on Twitter — setting a new record for sustained use of the service — and in many cities, from New York to Boise, Idaho, to Athens, Georgia, people took to the streets in spontaneous celebration.| MORE ›

The escape of almost 500 Taliban prisoners is just the latest blow in the effort to secure Afghanistan from insurgents. It couldn’t come at a worse time, as Afghan troops are apparently finally ready to take on the monumental task of defending their country. Umm, okay, sure.

What gets me is that the Taliban’s escape hole took five months to dig, and apparently nobody noticed the work on it.| MORE ›

It really is one of most peculiar things I’ve seen of late.  One moment, Julian Assange is a suspect for rape and molestation charges, “arrested in abstentia” by Swedish authorities, because they don’t know where he is.  The next day, the arrest warrant is revoked for lack of evidence.

So what’s going on here?  Well, over the course of the last couple days, I’ve considered three theories:| MORE ›

Harvard-trained historian Richard F. Miller, author of In Words and Deeds: Battle Speeches in History, wrote a guest post for Jules Crittenden’s blog about President Barack Obama’s West Point speech. His assessment: it a “midst of war” speech, and not a good one.| MORE ›

Good news from Pakistan; after the Pakistani army captured the hometown of the Taliban’s chief in that country, the group has fallen into disarray, with many deserting its ranks.

The battle for Kotkai town was symbolically key because it is the hometown of Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud and one of his top deputies, Qari Hussain.| MORE ›