Rick Perry has a knack for making comments that cause large swathes of the electorate to wince.
Afghanistan war
Rabbani’s assassination ‘a death knell for peace’
The head of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council and former president, Burhanuddin Rabbani, was assassinated in his home yesterday by the Taliban, which has sent a clear message it will not be negotiated with, writes Catherine James, a freelance journalist in Kabul.
Vale Brett Wood, honourable man, Australian hero
Rob Burgess paid tribute yesterday, along with the rest of parliament, to Australia’s latest casualty in the bloody Afghanistan conflict — and his brother-in-law — Sergeant Brett Wood.
My enemy’s enemy is my friend: fragile US-Pakistani relations
Pakistan needs to retain a strong alliance with Afghanistan, no matter who is in power, more than it needs the US.
US deficit is unsustainable … watch out for the ramifications
Like a drug addict who has cleaned out his pockets, it’s time to start stealing from the neighbours.
Is America defeating the Haqqani network?
A key group of Taliban fighters known as the Haqqani network have not conducted a large scale attack in Kabul for seven months, which suggests recent tactics from US troops are working, writes Eric Schmitt.
What did America think about our Afghan debate?
Plenty of Australians were skeptical of the “furious agreement” espoused by both major parties during parliament’s debate on the war in Afghanistan, but United States Ambassador to Australia Jeff Bleich was glued to the screen and chuffed with the results, writes Leo Shanahan.
Mungo MacCallum: Mungo: cue applause for Greens on Afghanistan … but what have we learned?
The debate on Afghanistan was long overdue and the Greens are to be congratulated for forcing it upon a reluctant Government. But it must be said that we have learned very little from it to date.
Afghanistan: OK to be partisan
Watch closely in the parliamentary debate on Afghanistan this week for how often the speaking MPs remind you of their support for the troops. But there’s nothing wrong with being partisan on military policy, writes Special Forces Afghanistan veteran and Lowy Institute associate James Brown.
Mungo MacCallum: Two virility symbols and a saint … lucky country indeed
Judging from the shambling swagger he affects these days (part-Western gunslinger, part-silverback gorilla) Tony Abbott is brimming with confidence.
Rethinking Afghanistan: risks, consequences need to be assessed
The quality, relevance and consequent utility of general public debate concerning Australia’s military commitment to the UN-endorsed International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan is often problematic at best, writes Neil James, executive director, Australia Defence Association.
Rethinking Afghanistan: no place for politics in military prosecution
Australia has an independent process for military justice and a need to comply with international obligations. To suggest that the government should step in, as Tony Abbott did yesterday, is foolish, writes Angela Priestley, editor of Lawyers Weekly.
Grattan: Abbott turns down the volume, Pyne cranks it back up
Just as Tony Abbott was toning down the vitriol of his slings at Julia Gillard in the wake of last week’s Afghanistan debacle, along came Christopher Pyne to reignite the flames. It was another gob smacking outburst, writes Michelle Grattan.
Sweetman: Abbott was outmaneuvered on Afghanistan
There is a Coalition-endorsed theory making the rounds that Julia Gillard set a trap for Tony Abbott during this week’s Afghanistan debacles. Even so, if it was such an obvious bait Abbott shouldn’t have fallen for it, writes Terry Sweetman.
We need to make up our minds about Afghanistan
Australia is set to have a parliamentary debate before the year’s end about our involvement in Afghanistan. That debate can’t come soon enough, because soldiers need and deserve moral support, writes Paul Murray.
revealed 
Traumatic brain injuries: the invisible wounds of Iraq and Afghanistan
Ex-American soldiers who cannot remember, cannot understand speech and have large chunks cut out of their brains bear the signature wounds of Iraq and Afghanistan: traumatic brain injury. One study estimates the number of those affected could be as high as 320,000, writes Christian Davenport.
Murder, conspiracy, war crimes and a death count tattoo
An American investigation into war crimes in Afghanistan has resulted in five soldiers being charged with conspiring to murder unarmed civilians. One of them, Staff Sgt. Calvin R. Gibbs, has a tattoo that keeps count of his victims.
Violence and fraud mar Afghan election
The legitimacy of last weekend’s Afghanistan election was immediately called into question following reports of widespread fraud and violence. At least 11 people were killed in insurgent attacks across the country.
Political snippets: Rudd doing what he should
The new Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is doing what he should be doing. Going off to the United Nations.
Assange and the WikiLeaks fallout
The timing of the accusations against WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange are curious, to say the least, even if one hesitates short of any conspiracy line.
Forget the Taliban. Obama should be worried about the Democrats
The mid-term election is going to be very bad for the Democrats, with one or both houses lost, writes Michael Wolff of Newser.com.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: WikiLeaks and the “barbarism that is war”
Crikey readers weigh in on the debate surrounding WikiLeaks and the war in Afghanistan.
Whatever their motivation, WikiLeaks undermine international humanitarian law
The vast bulk of material recently released by WikiLeaks would not be new in nature to those who keep up with the Afghanistan War or the difficulties and perennial moral quandaries of fighting wars generally, writes Neil James, executive director, Australia Defence Association
