October 9th Morning Readbook

Afghan Chances Lost, U.S. Faces Long Odds
The Road Ahead: After Allowing bin Laden to Escape in 2001 and Shifting Focus to Iraq, U.S. Now Fighting Resurgent Taliban


At Least 42 Die in Blast at Market in Pakistan


Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize


General Wants More U.S. Troops For Afghan War


India committed to development work in Afghanistan


Afghanistan: From Insurgency To Insurrection
A prospective change in the character of the Afghan war has momentous implications for the United States and its allies, Paul Rogers writes for openDemocracy

Cultural Insensitivity
Many foreign politicians are trying to justify leaving the Taliban alone and just getting out of Afghanistan (where it is very expensive to maintain troops, and very difficult to justify to opposition politicians and angry voters). What has not yet become an important topic, is the impact of the growing flood of Afghan heroin.


No Substitute for Boots on the Ground


What Obama and the Generals Are Reading


Pakistan warns India to 'back off'


Pullout From Iraq Poses Daunting Challenges


Families exiled by Saddam return to Iraq
Twenty families who were sent into exile in Iran by Saddam Hussein following a failed uprising returned Thursday to Iraq, another sign of Baghdad's warming relations with Tehran.