Afghanistan

U.S.-Iran cooperation? Neo-Taliban? For those of you wanting to go deeper on Afghanistan/Pakistan issues than the campaign soundbytes, here's New America's Nick Schmidle debating Amin Tarzi of the Center for Advanced Defense Studies on Bloggingheads.tv.

The term "October surprise" used to refer to an international event that caused a major turn in a U.S. presidential campaign. Steve Coll, New America's president and CEO, thinks that this year's October surprise may be from Osama bin Laden, perhaps at home. Der Spiegel interviews Coll on this and other insights into Osama bin Laden and his large family from his new book, The Bin Ladens.

'Osama bin Laden is Planning Something for the US Election'

Der Spiegel | April 2, 2008

US author Steve Coll spent years looking into Osama bin Laden's family. Now, his new book provides a unique insight into the clan. SPIEGEL spoke with him about where the terrorist might be hiding, how his father got his start, and the unique romantic liasons pursued by one of his brothers.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Coll, Osama bin Laden recently broke a long silence. He threatened Europe and called for the "liberation" of the Gaza Strip. How seriously should we take these missives? Do they tell us anything about him or about where he might be?

Is it possible that Iraq is still sucking up all the best intelligence and counter-insurgency assets of the U.S. Government and leaving only the scraps to deal with the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan? New America Fellow Nick Schmidle, whose New York Times Magazine cover story got him and his wife expelled from Pakistan by the Musharraf government, looks at the state of play in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas in this piece in Sunday's Washington Post. With unmanned Predator strikes killing civilians and senior military advisors trying to replicate Iraq's Anbar Awakening, the answer seems clear.

Tonight, Frontline airs Part II of Bush's War on PBS. With interviews from our own Steve Coll and Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, the show promises the most in-depth look at the decisions that brought us to the five year anniversary of the invasion. Click on the image below to view Part I, available online now.

The United States loses 10 Bradley fighting vehicles a week in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition to the tragic loss of our fighting men and women this figure represents, this loss rate translates to a cost of $30.7 million dollars. Add it all up and we're spending about $3.5 billion per week, but only $350 million on pay for our troops. Writing in TomDispatch, New America's Bill Hartung helps us all get a handle on this large, large number.