The Air Force Association Asks: Where is the Beef?

01/26/2012
01/26/12 We want to recognize the importance of an Air Force Association letter sent  to the Hill outlining their concerns about funding challenges undercutting the ability to have a new power projection strategy.  An impressive range of Air Force influentials weighed in and signed this letter and this is a…

Tail Hook is More Than a Party

01/26/2012
01/26/12 by Ed Timperlake Since the term “Tailhook” entered the vernacular (as a rowdy out of control party because of a social engineering agenda that set that media template), American’s may have lost sight that a real tail hook is a deadly serious piece of equipment. It was said during…

USAF Background Paper on the Light Air Support Decision

01/25/2012
01/25/2012 by Ed Timperlake We are publishing a USAF background paper currently circulating on the Hill.  It validates everything we have written on Second Line of Defense for more than a year about the LAS competition. The USAF is circulating a paper on the Hill that clearly lays out for…

The Afghan-Pak Logistics Challenge in 2012

01/25/2012
[caption id="attachment_12920" align="alignleft" width="150" caption=" "][/caption] By Dr. Richard Weitz 01/25/2011 - The success of U.S.-NATO operations in Afghanistan depends on logistics capabilities and security. It is crucial to have secure and effective lines of communication through which supplies can reach the foreign contingents assigned to the International Security and…

An Iran-Centric Crisis?

01/24/2012
By Dr. Harald Malmgren 01/23/2012 - Iran is threatening to close the Straits of Hormuz.  Newly tightening financial sanctions on Iran’s banks and its central bank are suffocating credit for Iran’s fuel imports and oil exports.  Inside Iran there are widespread frantic efforts by businesses and people in the streets…

Reintegrating Taliban Fighters

01/20/2012
[caption id="attachment_12920" align="alignleft" width="150" caption=" "][/caption] By Dr. Richard Weitz 01/20/2012  There is widespread international support for reintegrating lower-level Taliban foot soldiers who may have joined the insurgency for money or other non-ideological reasons. Inducing many of these “accidental guerrillas” to leave the insurgency is a reasonable goal since neither…

Peace in Afghanistan: The Foreigners’ Dilemma

01/16/2012
By Dr. Richard Weitz 01/16/2011 - Limited international backing contributed to the failure of the past Afghan-led reintegration and reconciliation initiatives. Until recently, these processes encountered strong opposition in many Western countries. Meanwhile, reconciliation confronted the issue of previous Taliban misrule and the organization’s ties to the al-Qaeda perpetrators of…

Afghanistan 2012: The Peace Problem

01/15/2012
01/15/2011 - by Richard Weitz Editor's Note: In the first of four parts, Richard Weitz looks at the prospects and challenges for an Afghan peace process in 2012 and the reality of the 2014 target goal of withdrawal.  If it is not real now, what will 2014 magic bring that…