The Fifty-Year War Nov 18, 2009
(In a Washington Post column supporting a troop increase in Afghanistan, David Ignatius cited the fact that US troops are issued petty cash to buy Afghans soda and other goodies. Are civilian casualties discrediting the American effort. (CBS News -- Opinion)
Pakistan's Baghdad Bob Oct 30, 2009
In a recent Washington Post column, David Ignatius in confronting the Taliban, quoting Abbas saying that the ongoing offensive in South Waziristan brings an end to the Pakistani government's thinking that "somehow we'll be able to manage them, co-opt them, bring them on board." SHARE. Statementslike that are music to American policymakers' ears. (Slate)
Will We Stay 50 Years In Afghanistan? Oct 16, 2009
Kilcullen is a media favorite, the subject of a long New Yorker profile by George Packer, glowing columns by David Ignatius in the Washington Post and weighty late-night conversations with Charlie Rose. Kilcullen's recent book, The Accidental Guerrilla, presents the case for a Long War of fifty or even 100 years' duration, with chapters on Iraq (a mistake he believes was salvaged by the military surge he promoted in 2007-08), Afghanistan (where he recommends at least a five-to-ten-year... (CBS News)
Obama at the Afghan Precipice Oct 13, 2009
The Washington Post's David Ignatius and the Brookings Institution's Michael O'Hanlon also weigh in ... The Washington Post's David Ignatius and the Brookings Institution's Michael O'Hanlon join Bob Schieffer in a discussion on the strategy in Afghanistan. (CBS News)
US media on Obama award Oct 10, 2009
The Washington Post's David Ignatius is more positive, arguing that Mr Obama's work to build America's international relations. "The Nobel Peace Prize award to Barack Obama seems so goofy - even if you're a fan, you have to admit that he hasn't really done much yet as a peacemaker. But there's an aspect of this prize that is real and important - and that validates Obama's strategy from the day he took office... America was too unpopular under Bush. The Nobel committee is expressing a collective... (BBC News -- Americas)
Time to Leave Iraq Sep 4, 2009
Washington Post columnist David Ignatius correctly argues that "without the backstop of U.S. support," Iraq is "desperately vulnerable" to Iranian pressure. He also reports, however, that an Iraqi intelligence official says Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's links with Iran are so close that he "uses an Iranian jet with an Iranian crew for his official travel." Whenever U.S. forces leave, Iran will still be Iraq's neighbor. (Townhall.com)
As US fades, Iran ups the ante in Iraq Aug 29, 2009
David Ignatius, a renowned American political writer, concluded in his article, "Creative Opportunism on Iran", that the current situation in Iran was a "golden moment". If this assessment influences policymakers in the US, however, aggressive moves could push the Iranian government past restraint and things could get out of control. (Asia Times Online)
San Francisco Chronicle Best-Sellers Aug. 9 / Aug 10, 2009
INCREMENT, by David Ignatius (W.W. Norton; 400 pages; $26. 95). (San Francisco Chronicle)
Walid Jumblatt Is No Weather Vane Aug 8, 2009
After saying that , Jumblatt the Washington Post's David Ignatius that the Iraqi elections were analogous to the fall of the Berlin Wall and everything was up for grabsthanks to the Americans. A few weeks later, more than 1 million Lebanese took to the streets on March 14 to protest the Syrian occupation, and in April, Syrian troops left Lebanon after a 29-year occupation. (Slate)
US shrugs off Pakistan-Taliban links Aug 6, 2009
After a conversation with Mullen, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius quoted him in a June 29 article as saying that Kiani and his choice for ISI chief "have committed very specifically to change the culture of ISI", but that "that's not going to happen overnight". Mullen has, however, carefully avoided saying that Kiani has given assurances he intends to halt the military assistance to the Taliban. (Asia Times Online)
Friendly store owner, alleged jihadist Jul 30, 2009
July 23: The Washington Post's David Ignatius discusses his latest article, "The CIA's 'Hit Team' Miss," and why it's hard for the CIA to operate in 'friendly countries. . (MSNBC -- Terrorism)
Obama steps into diplomatic minefield May 30, 2009
This translates into a new US determination to back its Iran diplomacy with a "military threat", to paraphrase Washington columnist David Ignatius. Contrary to Ignatius, the present efforts to bolster diplomacy with the stick of military threats only torpedoes the chances for a diplomatic breakthrough with Iran, a country that traditionally does not respond well to external threats. (Asia Times Online)
No Government? No Problem May 25, 2009
The administration appears ready to lean hard on Netanyahu, wrote Washington Post columnist David Ignatius approvingly. Thats fair enough, in one respect. (Townhall.com)
The pressure of an expanding war May 23, 2009
In that mix of sports lingo, Hollywood-ese, and just plain hyperbole that makes armchair war strategizing just so darn much fun, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, for instance, claimed that US Central Command supremo General David Petraeus, who picked McChrystal as his man in Afghanistan, is "assembling an all-star team" and that McChrystal himself is "a rising superstar who, like Petraeus, has helped reinvent the US Army". Is that all. (Asia Times Online)
Plan to close Gitmo hits roadblock May 20, 2009
May 19: Author David Ignatius discusses whether another discrepancy in the CIAs briefing records vindicate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. INTERACTIVE. (Huntington WSAZ-TV, WV)
Spy novelist Ignatius back in operation with 'The Increment' May 19, 2009
The Increment author David Ignatius was surprised when he visited Iran: "It has the look of Los Angeles.". By Bob Minzesheimer, USA TODAY Journalist/novelist David Ignatius says he loves "the tension between fact and fiction," which explains why he continues to write newspaper columns on foreign affairs and spy novels respected by Hollywood and real-life CIA operatives. (USA Today -- Life)
3 comments Apr 29, 2009
"Nobody should pretend," wrote Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, who approved of Obama's decision, "that the disclosures weren't costly to CIA morale and effectiveness.". On April 20, Obama journeyed to CIA headquarters and defended his decisions. (Human Events Online)
New on DVD: Oscar-winning 'Connection,' nominee Jolie Feb 27, 2009
But speaking as one who actually likes 2006's A Good Year (a movie that calls oblivion home), I'm bummed by Ridley Scott's take on David Ignatius' savvy CIA novel, which never ignites despite Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. The script by The Departed's William Monahan pares the story down to agency basics, jettisoning material that made the book a fluid flow while changing the nationality of Jordan-based junior spook DiCaprio's romantic interest (for a not-very-credible relationship). (USA Today -- Life)
Charles Laughton, scene stealer Feb 20, 2009
Scott shares a commentary with screenwriter William Monahan and David Ignatius, author of the source novel, who passes along a tip from a CIA operations officer he met in Iraq. If you're in disguise and the enemy tries to search you, you're not going to bargain you're just going to shoot your way out. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
Body of Lies Feb 12, 2009
February 10, 2009 - , adapted by William Monahan (The Departed) from the novel by David Ignatius, expresses the provocative and profound notion that cynicism and hope can survive alongside one another, and occasionally, merge into a singular expression of both ... Commentary by Ridley Scott, Writer William Monahan and Author David Ignatius. (IGN FilmForce)
The tricky question of whether to spend or save Feb 11, 2009
Besides developing the most famous prescription for curing downturns, Keynes can also be considered the godfather of behavioral economics, as the columnist David Ignatius recently wrote. While other economists obsessed over statistical models that treated people as hyperrational automatons, Keynes wrote about "animal spirits." He helped explain how psychology shaped economics. (International Herald Tribune -- Business)
