By Michael Gerson President Obama has been the master of mixed signals on Afghanistan. His initial policy review revealed a deeply divided administration, conducting its own internal war of leaks. Obama pursued a major surge in American forces, as well as recent reductions some military commanders viewed as premature. He has affirmed the importance of the Afghan mission when announcing new policy, but has s ...

By MARK LANDLER KABUL, Afghanistan — President Obama, speaking to an American television audience on Tuesday night from Bagram Air Base, declared that he had traveled here to herald a new era in the relationship between the United States and Afghanistan, “a future in which war ends, and a new chapter begins.” Mr. Obama’s address, during an unannounced visit to sign a strategic partnership agreement with Pre ...

By David Ignatius In the year since Osama bin Laden’s death, it has been a comforting thought for Westerners to say that he failed. And that’s certainly true in terms of al-Qaeda, whose scorched-earth jihad tactics alienated Muslims along with everyone else. But in terms of bin Laden’s broader goal of moving the Islamic world away from Western influence, he has done better than we might like to think. Egypt ...

High-level talks on ending a diplomatic deadlock between the United States and Pakistan have ended in failure over Pakistani demands for an apology from the United States, The New York Times reported on Saturday. The newspaper said U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman left the Pakistani capital Friday night with no agreement. The departure followed two days of discussions aimed at pa ...

BATHINDA, India (Reuters) - India has held talks over exporting refined fuels to its neighbor Pakistan, the head of Hindustan Mittal Energy said on Saturday, at the opening of the company's new refinery close to the border between the two countries. Moves to stimulate trade flows and liberalize restricted investment rules have emerged as the key driver of peace efforts between the neighbors, whose fragile t ...

By Dr. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed Since NATO's Lisbon summit in November 2010, debate has raged over the decision to draw-down troops from Afghanistan by 2014. And in less than a month, NATO is to hold its 25th heads of state summit in Chicago on 20th May. Unsurprisingly, among the summit's major themes will be the seemingly intractable Afghan question, controversy over which has continued with increasingly fero ...

By James Joyner In a speech to the Atlantic Council this week, Major General John Toolan, just returned from a year commanding NATO forces in southwestern Afghanistan, both highlighted the tremendous progress coalition forces have made since the beginning of the Afghan surge and candidly acknowledged how much work remains to be done. Toolan was, for the most part, dismissive of the Taliban’s strength, which ...

US warns N Korea to refrain from hostile acts Washington: The White House has warned North Korea to refrain from future hostile acts amid indications Pyongyang could soon embark on a new nuclear test or may plan more missile launches. Pyongyang should "refrain from engaging in any more hostile or provocative actions. They do nothing to advance the cause of peace on the Korean peninsula (or) in Northeast Asi ...