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Alden Munson is a Senior Fellow and Member of the Board of Regents, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. In the latest issue of Aviation Week, he writes that after a decade of problems, acquisitions programs in the US intelligence community are finally back on track. Munson writes that a "conspiracy of hope" had been to blame for trouble in many acquisitions programs. He says in some cases, programs were started without necessary funding, government teams lacked the experience to make informed judgments, and contractors were chosen who lacked appropriate expertise. Click to read more here.
Brig. Gen. David Reist, USMC, (Ret.), says as the Obama administration ponders its next moves in Afghanistan, it is "imperative" that we gain insight by engaging the Afghan people themselves.
Gen. Reist, a Senior Research Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, says those insights include an understanding of Afghan culture and history including the region's religion, tribal structure, governance, social norms, and rule of law.
Gen. Reist speaks from extensive experience including his previous post as Deputy Commanding General for Economics, Governance, and Tribal Engagement in Anbar Province, Iraq. He held that post from 2006-2007, at the time of the Anbar "Awakening."
Today, Gen. Reist says "we are not trying to make Afghanistan a small United States." Rather, he says it's important to understand how the Afghan people see themselves as part of the solution. Says Gen. Reist: "This conflict is a test of wills, and one side is going to prevail."
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Former Weapons Inspector David Kay talks to NPR about Iran's pledge to allow United Nations inspectors visit its uranium enrichment plant at Qum. Read and listen here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113405288
In the September 2009 issue of Practical Pain Management, Drs. James Giordano and Dennis McBride explore challenges that arise as emerging neurotechnologies are applied to pain care. What happens when data from neuroimaging appears to conflict with a patient's subjective experience of pain? Does research in neurogenetics point to a future of genome manipulation to control pain? What unintended consequences could occur? Click to read more:
Washington Times 09/21/2009
Senior Fellow Daniel Gallington examines recent controversy over General McChrystal's report and the history of foreign wars in Afghanistan, and urges greater involvement of NATO and Russia.