Yesterday, a number of senior counterterrorism officials and experts testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on U.S. efforts to combat extremism.  Daniel Benjamin, the State Department's coordinator for counterterrorism, stated that the "primary goal of countering violent extremism is to stop those most at risk of radicalization from becoming terrorists."  National security experts agree that a strategic and farsighted counterterrorism policy takes the fight to terrorists globally and gets results through military, intelligence and law-enforcement means. 

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Yesterday's announcement by Israel to continue expanding settlements in East Jerusalem has demonstrated fragility of the situation there, which has direct implications for American national security interests in the region. America's national security interests are deeply intertwined in the Middle East.  American national security leaders and experts agree that as long as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict persists, the U.S. will lack the credibility it needs to ensure that its vital security interests in the region are achieved.  This is why the Obama administration, as well as multiple predecessor Administrations from both parties, have made resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a core foreign policy priority.    

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Today President Obama is meeting with a bipartisan group of Senators to discuss the issue of climate change and energy legislation.  Not only is comprehensive legislation essential to creating millions of American jobs and transitioning us towards a new clean energy economy, but bipartisan national security experts also agree that it is a critical national security priority. Such a move by the United States Congress is important for there to be sustainable progress - both domestically and internationally - on carbon reduction.  While such legislation would address many of the security concerns expressed by our nation's military and national security experts, extreme conservatives continue to ignore the warnings about this threat and instead insist on "doing nothing."  This is not how America will address the twin challenge of climate change and energy security.

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Prominent conservative lawyers and Bush administration officials denounced as "shameful" a video by Liz Cheney and Bill Kristol's conservative organization Keep America Safe that suggests lawyers who defended Guantanamo Bay detainees are complicit in terrorism.  Signatories include top Bush Administration attorneys and officials, even those who have vocally defended its controversial policies - as well as Kenneth Starr.  Separately, Bush administration Solicitor General Ted Olson defended the attorneys attacked in the video.  These developments dramatize the split between former Bush administration officials and the Cheneyites, who advocate for irresponsible and dangerous counterterrorism policies. 

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This weekend, Iraq will host its first parliamentary elections since the 2005 polls that preceded two years of grim violence and domestic turmoil. Today’s Iraq is different. While tensions are high, and bombings have marred the pre-election and early-polling periods, overall attacks remain at historic lows – one-tenth of their 2006 peak. Iraqis are looking to the greater challenges that come after the elections: forming a government and dealing with Iraq’s persisting problems such as the status of Kirkuk. These are challenges that Iraqis must confront themselves; the U.S. can only play a supporting role.

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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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After more than two weeks of operations, the military offensive in Marja has begun to wind down.  The coalition of American, international and Afghan forces appears to have succeeded in its initial goal of seizing territory from the Taliban, a first step in the larger effort to constrain the insurgency's movement and limit its effectiveness.  At the same time, the first phase of the operation has introduced and exposed new challenges, including significant civilian displacement and humanitarian issues as well as problems with the professionalism of Afghan security forces. 

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Tomorrow, the Senate Armed Services Committee is holding a closed door hearing on progress toward the closure of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, with Special Envoy for Guantanamo Bay Ambassador Daniel Fried and senior officials from the Departments of Defense, Justice, and the intelligence community. Closing the prison, which has become a recruiting tool for terrorists worldwide, is part of the Administration's broader counterterrorism strategy.

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Yesterday, Brookings Institution scholars Michael O'Hanlon and Bruce Riedel published a powerful op-ed in the Financial Times opposing a military strike on Iran.  Their arguments against such a policy were based on a clear-headed analysis of the costs versus benefits of such an action.  In their view, not only would military action fail to eliminate Iran's nuclear program, but its mere mention lacks credibility.  The arguments against potential American military action are compelling. 

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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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