Word: afghanistanism
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...more likely that Obama, as he considers his options in Afghanistan, would benefit most from any private conversation he can work in on the subject with Bush, who was considered a foreign policy maestro, not to mention Baker, who along with Brent Scowcroft (and Gates), helped Bush chart a solid and centrist foreign policy from...
...President Obama is learning. He genuinely is trying to hold out the hand of friendship. The Middle East is crucial. Ultimately to ease the tensions there is crucial. Afghanistan is a different kind of an issue. I agree with more troops there. I'm not a warmonger but it's no good going in for seven or eight years and then pulling out and leaving it worse. It's unfair to say he should have successes by now. But this time next year...
...official said that Hicheur's name first arose in earlier Franco-Belgian investigations into a network that is suspected of finding recruits in the two countries and sending them to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area to undergo training to eventually launch attacks in Europe. Among the group's members was Malika el Aroud, the widow of an al-Qaeda suicide bomber who killed the anti-Taliban militia leader Ahmed Shah Massoud in northern Afghanistan two days before the Sept. 11 attacks. El Aroud, a Belgian national, wrote a radical blog and participated in online forums urging Muslims to join...
...unclear exactly when Hicheur began communicating with el Aroud's group or whether he was interested in going to Afghanistan or just looking for other terrorist-group contacts. Either way, the busts in December and May left el Aroud's group weakened, apparently causing Hicheur to seek out other extremists in online forums. "[Hicheur] eventually found AQIM people ready to discuss and encourage his jihadist ambition," the French official said. "These forums allow extremists from different countries to strike up partnerships and even plan together ... But that gives police and intelligence services very useful places to keep under close watch...
...With the Taliban now resurgent in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, el Aroud's group has managed to remain active despite the raids that have sapped its membership. Hicheur's ability to move from that group directly into AQIM circles, meanwhile, is a reminder of how many places the terrorism threat now resides in Europe. Hicheur's case also marks the first instance of AQIM using a French recruit as an active terrorist operative in Europe, rather than solely for logistical assistance as the group has in the past. All the more reason for Europe's counterterrorism authorities to continue their...