Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- August 13, 2011

Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team members maneuver through rocky creek beds, rice paddies and corn fields while on a combat patrol to sweep for roadside bomb triggermen in Alingar district in Afghanistan's Laghman province, Aug. 7, 2011. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan Crane

Is Afghanistan “Worth It? The Difference Two Years Make -- Stephen Biddle, American Interest

In a July 2009 essay about the war in Afghanistan, I asked: “Is It Worth It?”1 My answer then was yes, but only barely. Because the case for war was a close call on the merits, I anticipated that it would be controversial and hard to sustain politically, with the possibility of a left-right antiwar coalition forming against a pro-war center. It is now two years later. Has anything important changed since then?



Some things have. Many now point to Osama bin Laden’s death as a possible turning point, given al-Qaeda’s prominence in the Obama Administration’s case for war in Afghanistan. This could, in principle, tip the calculus toward accelerated withdrawal. But neither the effect of bin Laden’s death on al-Qaeda’s future nor the Administration’s own strategic assessment of its implications is yet clear.



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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials

Did deterrence against North Korea fail in 2010? -- Ken Jimbo, East Asia Forum



Korea-Japan relations hit bottom -- Korea Times editorial



In Russia, the Line Between Hard and Soft Blurs: World View -- Jeffrey Tayler, Bloomberg



Is Italy Too Big To Save? -- Uri dadush, Foreign Policy



The U.K.: A palpable change in the national mood -- The Telegraph editorial



A western ‘un-spring’ -- Sakib Sherani, DAWN



Havana’s American hostage -- Washington Post editorial



How American aid is lifting Liberia -- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Washington Post



Will Joseph Biden Be Replaced on the 2012 Democratic Ticket? -- IBTimes



Germany Must Defend the Euro -- George Soros, Project Syndicate



Department of Internet Defense -- David Ignatius, Washington Post



Five big uncertainties -- Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy