This week Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney took their movement's lead in politicizing America's national security.  Romney pulled a complete flip-flop on Afghanistan, from fully supporting the president's policy in the morning to wholeheartedly criticizing it in the evening.  His newly-released book, in opposition to the views of America's top military leader, Admiral Michael Mullen, suggests that the military should add to its duties the lead role in American diplomacy.  In addition, Liz Cheney's group Keep America Safe released a troubling video this week suggesting that attorneys who represented Guantanamo Bay detainees are complicit in terrorism, a move that a Bush administration official called "offensive" and "beyond a cheap shot."  These developments are symptoms of the two larger problems for conservatives: none of their leaders take national security seriously and they continue to attack the national security apparatus of the United States, exploiting national security for political gain.

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Yesterday, India and Pakistan reopened talks, following over a year of elevated tensions in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Both Secretary of State Clinton and Secretary of Defense Gates have welcomed the resumption of diplomacy.  This reflects the Obama administration's commitment to a comprehensive strategy for the region. But ultimately, as Secretary Clinton has acknowledged, the problems between the two countries must be "solved by the two countries themselves." 

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Pakistan's unprecedented effort against Afghan Taliban within its borders comes following a year of Obama administration engagement.  This comprehensive approach -on counterterrorism but also Pakistan's development, defense and diplomatic priorities -has built greater cooperation between the two countries, particularly on regional counterterrorism issues.  However, caution is warranted:  Pakistan's interests will not always align with those of the U.S., and the Administration should not repeat its predecessor's failure by simply assuming a "friendly" Pakistani government will pursue U.S. interests.

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This week has seen a wave of successes for the Obama administration and our allies against extremists abroad.  The capture of senior Taliban leadership this week has demonstrated that Obama administration is taking the fight to the extremists, with concrete results.  Despite these successes conservatives see terrorism and national security as a political opportunity not a strategy to keep America safe.

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With renewed focus on the nation's economic agenda, many commentators have concluded that last night's State of the Union signaled a downplaying of national security.  But the speech , as well as the actions of his administration, underscore the point that affairs abroad are intertwined with the issues confronting Americans at home. In sum, the President's words were an affirmation of his administration's strategy for the 21^st century, one that brings together both foreign and domestic instruments to project American power.

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2009 began with wars in strategic drift in Iraq and Afghanistan and a counterterrorism strategy badly in need of an overhaul.

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Yesterday, the Obama administration took its strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to Congress. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Secretary of State Clinton, Secretary of Defense Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mullen began the task of explaining the Administration’s strategy to America’s elected officials. For the sake of the strategy’s integrity, and in order to make certain that the Administration remains focused on its core objectives, it is vital that Congress ask the tough questions, and maintain vigilant oversight.

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After months of deliberations, the President has reportedly issued the orders that will deploy 34,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan over the course of the next year. But, as progressives have been arguing for months, and top Administration officials have recognized, no strategy for Afghanistan will succeed with a focus on troop numbers alone. The Administration must back these deployments with a strategy that lays out clear objectives in accordance with U.S. interests, spelling out the essential duties of U.S. military and civilian personnel, and how those duties fit within the broader effort to secure the main U.S. strategic objectives.

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Tuesday night, President Obama will lay out his Administration’s new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Media attention continues to focus on troop numbers and tactical debate over elements of counter-insurgency strategy. The president’s political opponents, meanwhile, will seek to portray the strategy as dead on arrival if it does not mention “victory” enough times or if it sets out benchmarks toward an eventual end state to American involvement

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In a surprise visit to Kabul this week, Secretary of State Clinton attended Hamid Karzai’s Presidential inauguration. During the visit, she urged the Afghan government to both reform itself and to stamp out corruption. In particular, she stressed that Karzai had a limited window to “make a new compact with the people of Afghanistan.” Clinton’s message underscored a basic point that progressives have been making for months – that without a political and diplomatic strategy that urges Afghans to step up, no plan for Afghanistan can succeed.

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