Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- January 18, 2011

SHAH JOY BAZAAR - U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Cesaitis, front, and Spc. Daniel Scott walk though the Shah Joy bazaar, Afghanistan, during a quality-control visit, Jan. 18, 2011. Cesaitis and Scott are assigned to Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson

Time For Our Allies To Ante Up In Funding Afghan Security Forces -- Max Boot, Commentary Magazine

It’s good to hear that the Afghan government and the international community are signing off on a plan to increase the size of the Afghan Security Forces from today’s level of 266,000 soldiers and police up to 378,000 by October 2012. Such an increase is vital if Afghan forces are to have any hope of controlling their own territory. A good rule of thumb, laid out in the Army-Marine Counterinsurgency Field Manual, is that it takes one counterinsurgent per 50 civilians to defeat an insurgency. Given that Afghanistan has a population of 30 million, that suggests the need for 600,000 security personnel — a milestone that Iraq has already passed.

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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials

Our Greatest Generation, in Afghanistan -- Max Boot, Commentary Magazine

Revolution in North Africa could prove a disaster for the West -- Con Coughlin, The Telegraph

A wave of Arab revolt after Tunisia? -- Dan Murphy, Christian Science Monitor

Our World: Tunisia’s lessons for Washington -- Caroline Glick, Jerusalem Post

The Winds of Change in Tripoli -- Bruce Riedel, National Interest

What Obama should NOT say to Hu Jintao -- Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy

What's at Stake in US-China Summit? Pretty Much Everything -- Joseph Schuman, AolNews.com

Can the U.S. Turn China Into a Responsible Global Player? -- Max Fisher, The Atlantic

Hu's Really in Control in China? Are the generals -- or Beijing's new leader-in-waiting -- now running the show? -- Drew Thompson, Foreign Policy

Northern Sudan at a deadly crossroads -- Harry Verhoeven, The Guardian

A True Japan-Korea-U.S. Alliance -- Todd Crowell, Real Clear World

Israeli Shakeup Another Setback for Obama -- Jonathan S. Tobin, Commentary Magazine

Who Lost the Middle East? -- Patrick J. Buchanan, Human Events

Mexico losing its war with drug cartels -- Sara A. Carter, Washington Examiner

Supreme Court can curb abuse of 'state secrets' privilege -- Washington Post editorial

Toward a 21st-Century Regulatory System -- President Barack Obama, Wall Street Journal