Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- February 9, 2011

TECHNIQUE TALK - U.S. Army Sgt. Kevin Murphy, right, instructs Iraqi army soldiers on individual movement techniques during a class at the Ghuzlani Warrior Training Center, Iraq, Feb. 2, 2011. Murphy is assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Advise and Assist Brigade. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Shawn Miller

Afghanistan War: Should The US Be Talking To The Taliban? -- Jean Mackenzie, Global Post

A new report faults US strategy in Afghanistan of fusing Taliban and Al Qaeda.

KABUL, Afghanistan — A new study released Monday by New York University’s Center on International Cooperation hints that U.S. strategy on Afghanistan needs a major rethink. First and foremost, the authors say, we need to identify the enemy we claim to be fighting.

“Separating the Taliban from al-Qaeda: The Core of Success in Afghanistan,” as the report is called, fundamentally challenges the assumptions that lie at the heart of U.S. policy: that by fighting the Taliban we are punishing the forces that perpetrated Sept. 11, and consequently making our homeland safer.

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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials

Facebook's increasingly ambiguous role in the Middle East -- Joshua Keating, Foreign Policy

The EU and the Arab World: 'We Focused Too Much on the Rulers' -- Spiegel Online (An Interview)

Japanese Democracy Faces Reckoning -- Michael Auslin, Real Clear World

More War in the Caucasus -- Thomas de Waal, National Interest

Vladimir Putin's strongman act is only fuelling a Caucasian jihad -- Simon Tisdall, The Guardian

The Al Jazeera Effect: The inside story of Egypt's TV wars and how Saudi Arabia could be next. -- Hugh Miles, Foreign Policy

Should U.S. intelligence be paying more attention to Twitter? -- Joshua Keating, Foreign Policy

Terrorists Already Within Our Borders, Indicates Napolitano -- Alana Goodman, Commentary Magazine

Massive disapproval of Obama's handling of budget deficit -- Thomas Lifson, American Thinker

Oooops! Saudi oil reserves 'overstated by 40%' -- Rick Moran, American Thinker

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials On The Unrest In Egypt

A ‘Marshall Plan’ Sighting in Egypt -- Ted R. Bromund, Commentary Magazine
Whither Egypt's Military? -- John Gledhill, New York Times
U.S. must back democracy in Egypt regardless -- Tarek Masoud, L.A. Times
Needed: New national security thinking -- Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington Post
Egypt's revolution to win or lose -- George Will, Washington Post
Free, fair elections still distant prospect for Egypt -- Craig Whitlock and Mary Beth Sheridan, Washington Post
Could al Qaeda Hijack Egypt's Revolution? -- Kenneth Pollack, Wall Street Journal
A Political Battle of Wills in Egypt -- Thanassis Cambanis, Atlantic
Egypt's popular revolution will change the world -- Peter Hallward, The Guardian