Senior Fellow, Center for a New American Security
Senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security
PROFILE
Richard Fontaine
Guest
FROM Richard Fontaine
Which Way, L.A.?
Afghanistan Elections and Rethinking the War Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has canceled plans to attend this week's UN General Assembly so he can stay home and watch over the process of counting votes from Saturday's parliamentary elections.
To the Point
Afghanistan Elections and Rethinking the War Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has canceled plans to attend this week's UN General Assembly so he can stay home and watch over the process of counting votes from Saturday's parliamentary elections. The elections have been all but ignored in this country, but they've raised some familiar questions about the US and Afghanistan. Violence and intimidation kept turnout low, and massive fraud will taint whatever results are finally announced. What do Afghans think now of democracy? Is there any way to check the corruption of the Karzai regime, which reportedly undermines America's basic strategy and makes the Taliban stronger? Should the US change its political focus from the central government to local leaders, abandon counterinsurgency and get by with fewer troops?
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To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
To the Point
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
To the Point
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?