Al Qaeda Message Fails the Test | Newsweek International

Pakistan’s Fickle Ally
Sumit Ganguly 10/9/2009 12:00:00 AM
President Obama is on the verge of signing legislation that would grant $7.5 billion in new aid to Pakistan over the next five years, most of it in the form of economic assistance designed to strengthen the alliance and induce Pakistan to move more aggressively against the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
Deployments and Diplomacy
Henry Kissinger 10/3/2009 12:00:00 AM
The request for additional forces by the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, poses cruel dilemmas for President Obama. If he refuses the recommendation and General McChrystal's argument that his forces are inadequate for the mission, Obama will be blamed for the dramatic consequences. If he accepts the recommendation, his opponents may come to describe it, at least in part, as Obama's war. If he compromises, he may fall between all stools—too little to make progress, too much to still controversy. And he must make the choice on the basis of assessments he cannot prove when he makes them.
Bundy’s Blunders
Jonathan Alter 10/3/2009 12:00:00 AM
We're told that this month's marathon policy meetings about Afghanistan mark a fateful moment in the Obama presidency—a fork in the road. But that's only true if the president sharply escalates the number of U.S. ground forces. As everyone learned the hard way in Iraq, getting out is a helluva lot harder than getting in. If, by contrast, Obama chooses to limit U.S. involvement to fighting Al Qaeda, and stops short of a commitment to protect civilians from the Taliban, he has more options for a midcourse correction. That wouldn't be as fateful. (Click here to follow Jonathan Alter)
To Drone or Not To Drone
Adam B. Kushner 5/23/2009 12:00:00 AM
It's clear that predator drones are revolutionizing the way America fights battles: the flying robots, piloted from thousands of miles away, stand watch while soldiers sleep, kill terrorists from afar and patrol for 24 hours at a stretch. But some counterinsurgency experts say the drones are impeding the broader strategy by losing the war for hearts and minds in Pakistan.
THE BIG IDEA
Defusing a Cosmic War
Katie Baker 5/2/2009 12:00:00 AM
In "How To Win a Cosmic War," Reza Aslan explains why George W. Bush's war-on-terror rhetoric played right into Al Qaeda's hands—and how Barack Obama might be the best weapon yet against global jihadism.
THE LAST WORD
Our Main Enemy Is Al Qaeda
Kevin Peraino 4/18/2009 12:00:00 AM
Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has long governed a tinderbox. His party survived armed clashes with separatist rebels in the country's south and Houthi tribesmen in the north. Al Qaeda is also a growing threat. Last month a suicide bomber detonated himself at a crowded archeological site in Yemen, killing four South Korean tourists, and earlier this month CentCom chief Gen. David Petraeus warned that Yemen was becoming a safe haven for Qaeda militants. Saleh spoke with NEWSWEEK's Kevin Peraino at his palace in Sanaa. Excerpts: