February and March were bad months for the Western presence in Afghanistan. First the accidental burning of the Quran and then a lone soldier’s massacre of Afghan civilians undercut U.S. efforts to win Afghan hearts and minds.

Interview with Radek Sikorski

President Obama is reportedly considering releasing several senior Taliban leaders from Guantanamo Bay as an enticement to get the Taliban to the peace table. If he does so, he will do tremendous harm to American national security — and to his prospects for reelection this fall.

Despite the Karzai government's failures, a majority of Afghans continue to support democracy and the current system over the insurgent groups. But these achievements are fragile and reversible. A premature withdrawal from Afghanistan is a recipe for failure with disastrous consequences for the United States and world security.

It is often assumed that Afghanistan's warlords are choking off any chance at progress. In fact, they may not be all bad.

Iran is using the forced return of Afghan refugees to leverage its influence in Afghanistan at the expense of U.S. interests.

SSgt Gutierrez’s story, like that of other winners of the Medal of Honor and service Crosses, reveals unimaginable gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life. It also gives a peek at the American way of fighting that integrates all elements of military power into a force that can defeat any battlefield challengers. However, it also is a system that may no longer operate as effectively after hundreds of billions of dollars are stripped from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.

Afghanistan's election watchdog disqualified 19 winning candidates for alleged fraud, adding to a string of controversies that have undermined the legitimacy of the parliamentary elections and have delayed the vote results for two months.