December 2008 Archives

For the holidays, we'd like to try a slightly lighter question: What are you currently reading, or have recently read, that you would recommend to your fellow experts and to the readers of the blog? History books, biographies, think-tank reports and novels are all fair game as long as long as you explain their relevance to national security and why you think they are important or interesting. Posts don't have to be long, and links are welcome.

-- Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., NationalJournal.com

26 responses: Milt Bearden, Michael P. Jackson, Winslow T. Wheeler, Bing West, Bruce Hoffman, Kori Schake, Daniel Gouré, Col. Robert Killebrew, Larry Korb, Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, Col. W. Patrick Lang, Loren Thompson, Rachel Kleinfeld, Dov S. Zakheim, Michael F. Scheuer, James Jay Carafano, Michael Brown, Daniel Serwer, Andrew Bacevich, Stewart Verdery, Chris Seiple, Richard Hart Sinnreich, Ron Marks, Norman R. Augustine, Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas

In 2002, a little-known Illinois state senator named Barack Obama launched himself onto the national stage by opposing the invasion of Iraq. As a presidential candidate, Obama laid out a 16-month timeline, starting on Inauguration Day and ending in summer 2010, to withdraw major combat forces from Iraq. The Iraqi government, meanwhile, has insisted on a Status of Forces Agreement calling for a U.S. withdrawal by the end of 2011.

But the Iraqi government consistently slips deadlines, and Obama's plan is full of caveats. Is it realistic that all combat brigades will be out of Iraq in 16 months? If not, what might be a more realistic timetable -- shorter or longer? Do you have an estimate on how many troops might still be in Iraq 16 months after inauguration? And what are the factors -- political and military, in the U.S. and in Iraq -- that will shape Obama's choices on how quickly to draw down?

-- Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., NationalJournal.com

27 responses: Milt Bearden, Corine Hegland, Jim Phillips, Daniel Gouré, Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, Dov S. Zakheim, Kori Schake, Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., Brian Michael Jenkins, Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., Col. Douglas Macgregor, Col. W. Patrick Lang, Winslow T. Wheeler, Michael F. Scheuer, Rachel Kleinfeld, Ron Marks, Col. Robert Killebrew, Chris Seiple, Larry Korb, Michael F. Scheuer, James Jay Carafano, Paul R. Pillar, Daniel Byman, Bing West, Wayne White, Daniel Serwer

Before Election Day, Joe Biden said that a President-elect Barack Obama would almost certainly be tested by some national security crisis during the first six months of his presidency. It could be a new terrorist attack on the U.S. homeland or on an ally, or some unforeseen setback in Iraq or Afghanistan, or a surprise incident with a foreign power. If you were advising Obama, what would you tell him are the one or two most dangerous scenarios that could arise to challenge him, and what would you advise him to do about it?

-- Shane Harris, NationalJournal.com

27 responses: James Jay Carafano, Daniel Gouré, Michael F. Scheuer, Dov S. Zakheim, James Jay Carafano, Courtney Banks, Ron Marks, Shane Harris, Winslow T. Wheeler, Kori Schake, Col. W. Patrick Lang, James Jay Carafano, Andrew Bacevich, Chris Seiple, Larry Korb, Richard Hart Sinnreich, Col. W. Patrick Lang, Hillary Mann Leverett, Brian Michael Jenkins, Col. W. Patrick Lang, Col. Robert Killebrew, Vincent Cannistraro, Joseph J. Collins, Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., Milt Bearden, Michael P. Jackson, Col. Douglas Macgregor