American Security Council Foundation (ASCF)

FEATURED NEWS POST

NATO Chief: Afghan Roadmap Stands Despite US, French Announcements

By American Security Council Foundation ASCF February 2, 2012 @ 8:23am

NATO Secretary General Anders-Fogh Rasmussen says the coalition's timeline for the security transition in Afghanistan still stands, despite recent announcements from the United States and France.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have each suggested the coalition should end its combat role in 2013, more than a year ahead of previous plans, and switch to training and advising Afghan troops through 2014.

More on Learning

By GEN. Frederick J. Kroesen February 1, 2012 @ 11:15am

Further thought on the importance of learning as one pursues professional competence occurred when a fellow member of the Institute of Land Warfare had occasion to search for historical records regarding the career of GEN William C. Westmoreland. His immediate sources were the files of ARMY Magazine. He found 20 references to Westmoreland’s thinking—his reports, assessments, concepts and proposals. They range from 1958, when he wrote “The How of STRAC,” to 1993, “Riding to Battle.” Most important perhaps are his contributions during the years of his tenure as Chief of Staff, 1968–1972, because they affected the Army’s path to the future.

The Westmoreland research led to the recognition that the back issues of ARMY contain a wealth of educational material that is important to our evolving bank of knowledge about fighting wars, preparing for wars and sustaining the quality of our forces. It then led to “for example” inquiries concerning other authors of note.

US: Obama Proposing Home Loan Relief

By American Security Council Foundation ASCF February 1, 2012 @ 11:01am

U.S. President Barack Obama is set to offer beleaguered American homeowners a chance to refinance their housing loans to take advantage of near-record-low borrowing costs.

White House officials described the plan in advance of Mr. Obama's announcement Wednesday at a community center outside Washington. They estimated that 3.5 million homeowners, many of whom hold loans that are bigger than the worth of their houses, could save about $3,000 annually by reworking the terms of their mortgages.

Pakistan Dismisses Allegations of Afghan Taliban Support

By American Security Council Foundation ASCF February 1, 2012 @ 10:50am

Pakistan has dismissed a leaked NATO report that accuses it of secretly assisting the Taliban.

According to the classified report, Pakistan's military intelligence agency, the ISI, is supporting the Afghan Taliban, and the insurgents believe victory is inevitable once NATO troops leave in 2014.

 

US officials detail Afghan army attacks on coalition

By American Security Council Foundation ASCF February 1, 2012 @ 10:38am

KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S. defense officials are to tell Congress Wednesday that supposedly friendly Afghanistan security forces have attacked U.S. and coalition troops 45 times since May 2007, for the first time laying out details of attacks that have killed 70 and wounded 110.

Defense officials say that in most cases the Afghans acted out of personal motivation and were not controlled by insurgent groups.