Georgetown Security Law Commentary

Why Pakistan supports the Haqqani network: Fear for its own security

09/29/11: The Miami Herald reports that while, to American officials, the Haqqani network is a criminal syndicate with al-Qaida and Taliban ties that is frequently responsible for deadly attacks on US troops in Afghanistan.  To Pakistan, the picture is much more complex. Pakistani support for the Haqqanis is tied to Islamabad's fears for its own future security, and Pakistan is unlikely to surrender that support no matter how much pressure the US applies.

Scholarship: "Making the Case for Conflict Bifurcation in Afghanistan: Transnational Armed Conflict, Al Qaida, and the Limits of the Associated Militia Concept"

"Making the Case for Conflict Bifurcation in Afghanistan: Transnational Armed Conflict, Al Qaida, and the Limits of the Associated Militia Concept" (Naval War College International Law) by Geoffrey S. Corn (South Texas College of Law).  The U.S. has acknowledged that the conflict with Taliban forces in Afghanistan is an international armed conflict but asserts that the conflict with al Qaeda may not be.  This article considers the viability of this bifurcated armed conflict approach to operations in Afghanistan, and challenges the assumption that the geographic continuity of military operations against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan mandate that these armed conflicts be treated as unitary.  HT to National Security Advisors.