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Remember Afghanistan? The longest war in American history? Ever? When it comes to wars, we Americans have a selective memory. The Afghan war, dating from October 2001, has earned the distinction of having been forgotten while still underway. President Trump’s Inaugural Address included no mention of Afghanistan. Nor did his remarks last month at a joint session of Congress. For the new commander in chief, the war there qualifies at best as an afterthought — assuming, that is, he has thought about it all. A similar attitude prevails on Capitol Hill. Congressional oversight has become pro forma. Last week Gen....

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House and State Department struggled Tuesday to clarify President Barack Obama's suggestion that last month's deadly shooting at a kosher deli in Paris was random, despite the administration's earlier assertions that the attack was anti-Semitic. Obama, in describing terror threats during a lengthy interview with the online news site Vox, said the American people were right to be concerned "when you've got a bunch of violent, vicious zealots who behead people or randomly shoot a bunch of folks in a deli in Paris." Administration officials at first defended Obama's comments, with White House spokesman Josh...

Pakistani schools are warned to check under vehicles for magnetic bombs a day after 132 students were killed in a Taliban attack. Authorities in Islamabad issued a letter calling on schools to increase security. The country's army chief General Raheel Sharif and the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) have flown to Afghanistan to meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to discuss tackling Taliban militants in both countries. Army spokesman Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa said: "We are hoping that we will see strong action from the Afghan side in the coming days."

American officials have ordered some overseas airports with direct flights to the US to intensify screening of electronic devices. Transport officials said in a statement passengers could be asked to switch on devices, and equipment that does not power up would not be allowed on board. An official told the BBC that London's Heathrow was among the airports. The US announced new security measures last week, apparently in response to a terror threat, but gave no details. Analysts say the changes appear to be in response to intelligence that Islamic militants in Syria and Yemen are developing bombs that could...

Are we at war? I remember the Congress voting to authorize GWB to go into Iraq, but I’ll be hornswaggled if I can remember any authorization for Afghanistan. If not, how can Bergdhal be a POW? I’m confused. Can anyone explain the nitty-gritty here?

Many of you probably saw the Facebook photos of this event. This is a great video of the event with music and still shots. Get the tissues ready. (I search and didn't see it posted)

Al-Qaeda is in its worst financial state for many years while the Taliban's funding is flourishing, according to the US Treasury. Senior Treasury official David Cohen said al-Qaeda had made several appeals for funds already this year. The influence of the network - damaged by US efforts to choke funding - is waning, he said. The Taliban, meanwhile, are in better financial shape, bolstered by Afghanistan's booming trade in drugs. According to Mr Cohen, the al-Qaeda leadership has already warned that a lack of funds was hurting the group's recruitment and training efforts. "We assess that al-Qaeda is in its...

The prosecution of a Somali teenager accused of leading a pirate attack on an American cargo ship off the coast of Africa was taken off the fast track Thursday after a lawyer said more time will be needed to translate some Somali recordings into English. Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse appeared briefly in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where he was brought after his arrest aboard the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama in April. Authorities say Muse was the only surviving pirate of a group that he led in an attack off the coast of Africa on the cargo ship, which was carrying humanitarian...

... The biggest question mark hanging over it all is when and whether the West will get around to defeating the latest totalitarian threat facing humanity, that of radical Islamism. Here, too, there has been a pattern of growing threats and growing ability to address those threats. But in contrast to the economic, medical and ecological spheres, there is much less recognition of the nature of the threat and consensus on the need for collective action. Twice over the last century, free nations have been slow to defend themselves against totalitarian threats. In both of these cases -- fascism and...

Double bombing kills seven, one day before Indian PM visits Times Online - The ULFA, which has links to Islamic militants in neighbouring Bangladesh and has often staged attacks this time of year...

Here's a recent round-up of the "Overseas Contingency" on  Islamofascism   Obama Scraps 'Global War on Terror' for 'Overseas Contingency ...Mar 25, 2009 ... Obama has reportedly ordered an end to use of the phrase.http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/03/25/report-obama-administration-backing-away-global-war-terror/   ---   Pakistan: Fear imposed by Taliban in Swat Valley restricts freedom ... Human Rights Education Associates (press release) - ‎Apr 2, 2009‎Reporters Without Borders is alarmed about the impact that the imposition of the Sharia (Islamic law) in Pakistan’s northern Swat valley is having on press ...http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=2&language_id=1&headline_id=8957   Suicide attacks in Pakistan kill 25 United Press Internationalhttp://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/04/04/Suicide-attacks-in-Pakistan-kill-25/UPI-63251238883834/   Suicide attack on Pakistan security...

“In a memo e-mailed this week to Pentagon staff members, the Defense Department’s office of security review noted that “this administration prefers to avoid using the term ‘Long War’ or ‘Global War on Terror’ [GWOT.] Please use ‘Overseas Contingency Operation.’” — WaPo, March 25, 2009 [emphasis added] Maybe there is something to Pres. Obama’s post-partisan goal. He seems to have created virtual non-partisan unanimity around the fact that his new term for the war on terror is . . . silly. The crew at Fox News Watch had fun this evening with the absurd new term: “Overseas Contingency Operation.” Just...

Why stop at something so pedestrian as “Overseas Contingency Operation” in lieu of the term “Global War on Terror”? b. Hussein and his pals could have been much, MUCH more creative, and, in particular, reflective of themselves and their beliefs. I mean, let’s face it: As an acronym, OCO doesn’t have quite the rhythm of GWOT, although the Bush administration apparently also considered dumping their term in favor of GSAVE, or Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism. But W stuck with the term and, unfortunately, left the dirty task of renaming 8 years of familiar rhetoric to the ChangeChangeChange! mojo of...