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. Political leaders from different nations quickly issued statements expressing their relief, satisfaction, and approval that he was brought to justice.

In response to this, and to temper public enthusiasms, policy experts have taken pains to make clear that that because Al Qaeda is now decentralized, his death won’t have a major impact in our fight against them.| MORE ›

Update 5/12/11 00:05: Statement by former President George W. Bush:| 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 ›

The American Enterprise Institute published a new report about the war in Afghanistan. Considering that the Obama administration is currently reviewing a request from the top U.S. military commander in the region to send more troops or face defeat, the timing of “Enemy Reactions to the US Strategy and Force-Sizing Options” couldn’t have been better.| 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 ›

By George Friedman and Reva Bhalla.

The decision over whether to send more U.S. troops into Afghanistan may wait until the contested Afghan election is resolved, U.S. officials said Oct. 18. The announcement comes as U.S. President Barack Obama is approaching a decision on the war in Afghanistan.| MORE ›