Pakistan

Reassessing the Evolving al Qaeda Threat to the Homeland

Chairwoman Harman, committee members, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My testimony aims to address the evolving threat from al Qaeda to the homeland, to include the threat from al Qaeda itself, groups affiliated or allied to al Qaeda, and those "homegrown" militants influenced by al Qaeda ideas who have no connections to any formal jihadist group. This testimony does not aim to be exhaustive but to cover the most serious cases of recent years and to provide some overall threat assessment.

Peter Bergen | November 19, 2009

Pakistan's Other Problem Area: Baluchistan | TIME

... based on their prior strategic choices," says Sameer Lalwani, a Pakistan watcher at the New America Foundation, a Washington-based think tank. ...
Sameer Lalwani | October 31, 2009

Former US official: Resignation Over Afghan War is Drawing Support | CNN

CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen disagreed with Hoh's assessment of Afghanistan. "It's not that our presence there is causing the problem," he said. ...
Peter Bergen | October 30, 2009

Taliban Leader Rejects US Attempts to Lure Away Fighters with Money | CNN International

... very, very temporary allegiance," said Nicholas Schmidle, an expert on the Afghanistan-Pakistan region for the nonpartisan New America Foundation. ...
Nicholas Schmidle | October 30, 2009

Al-Qaida Connection: Foreign Passports Linked to Attacks on West Recovered | The Guardian (London)

Militancy expert Peter Bergen of the New American Foundation said the fact that the passports were found in Taliban compounds showed how the two ...
Peter Bergen | October 29, 2009

Pakistan Drone War Takes a Toll on Militants -- and Civilians

The Obama administration has dramatically ratcheted up the American drone warfare program in Pakistan. Since President Obama took office, U.S. drone strikes have killed about a half-dozen militant leaders along with hundreds of other people, a quarter of whom were civilians.

As a result of the unprecedented 42 strikes by drone aircraft into Pakistan authorized by the Obama administration, aimed at Taliban and al Qaeda networks based there, about a half-dozen leaders of militant organizations have been killed.

Remote-Control Drone Attacks Risk Losing 'Hearts and Minds' of Civilians in Pakistan| FOXNews

A new study from the New America Foundation found that with 41 drone strikes under his watch in Pakistan, President Obama has "dramatically increased" the ...
Peter Bergen, Katherine Tiedemann | October 26, 2009

Terrorism Dilemmas Come Down to Kashmir

The most vital region in this world today, for U.S. interests at least, remains a maze of cloud-shearing piles of rock and sweeping valleys, both checkered by impoverished towns and men clutching AKs-- but this pile is hundreds of miles from Kabul.

Brian Till | Las Vegas Sun | October 26, 2009

War and Politics

Over the summer, the Afghan Taliban's military committee distributed "A Book of Rules," in Pashto, to its fighters. The book's eleven chapters seem to draw from the population-centric principles of F.M. 3-24, the U.S. Army's much publicized counter-insurgency field manual, released in 2006. Henceforth, the Taliban guide declares, suicide bombers must take "the utmost steps . . . to avoid civilian human loss." Commanders should generally insure the "safety and security of the civilian's life and property." Also, lest

Steve Coll | The New Yorker | October 19, 2009

Up to 320 Civilians Killed in Pakistan Drone War: Report | Wired News

The number could be as high as 320 innocents, according to an analysis released today by the New America Foundation. That's about a third of the 1000 or so ...
Peter Bergen, Katherine Tiedemann | October 19, 2009