Originally published December 1, 2009

As we watch the president’s speech Tuesday night, writes columnist David Brooks, we’ll all get to judge whether he has cut and pasted the different options into a coherent whole. It’s not the troop levels that matter. What matters is how this war will be fought.

By David Brooks

Syndicated columnist

In late 2006, Gen. David Petraeus and Gen. James F. Amos released a brilliant book with a thrilling title. It was called the “Army/Marine Corps Field Manual 3-24.” In its quiet way, this book helped overturn conventional wisdom on modern warfare and gave leaders a new way to see the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Read more... (868 words, 1 image, estimated 3:28 mins reading time)

Germany has cast doubt on the value of sending extra troops to Afghanistan despite pleas from the US for its Nato allies to bolster the fight against the Taliban. Christain Schmidt, a junior German defence minister, said the country was not ready to commit additional forces to a revitalised military campaign to the war-torn state.

“I don’t think we will want to seek a majority in our country for a stronger security commitment without stronger commitment in the civil sector,” he said at a security conference in Bahrain. The final German decision will be made in the run-up to the London summit on Afghanistan in late January. The summit was called by Gordon Brown, the prime minister, last month to show international backing after President Barack Obama announced a major surge as part of a new strategy in Afghanistan.  Read more... (510 words, 1 image, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – A car bomb near the home of a Pakistani provincial government minister killed 20 people on Tuesday, a police official said, in another sign authorities are struggling against Taliban militants bent on grabbing power.

Militants who want no Western influence in nuclear-armed Pakistan, which Washington sees as critical in the battle against Islamist hardliners in Afghanistan, have not let up attacks, despite security crackdowns in their strongholds.

The blast took place in the town of Dera Ghazi Khan in a market, the kind of site frequently targeted by militants seeking to inflict maximum casualties.  Read more... (674 words, 1 image, estimated 2:42 mins reading time)