United Liberty

Who said the left and right can’t come together on an issue? FreedomWorks and former Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), perhaps one of the most leftist members of Congress in recent memory, certainly have over the issue of drones.

Kucinich and Malou Innocent, a foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute, joined Jackie Bodnar and Reid Smith of FreedomWorks to discuss Sen. Rand Paul’s filibuster earlier this month, the foreign use of drones, and the constitutional ramifications of drones inside the United States.

Check out the full conversation below:

Back in 2009, the Cato Institute released a white paper in which Malou Innocent and Ted Galen Carpenter laid out a viable exit strategy for the United States to get out of Afghanistan. At that point, we had occupied the country — known as the “Graveyard of Empires” — for nearly eight years and there was detailed way produced by military leaders as to how and when we’d finally leave.

With 2,000 of our brave soldiers losing their lives and our occupation of Afghanistan entering its 12th year, the Taliban is mocking us as we have given up on “bringing democracy” to an untamable region:

America’s longest war entered its 12th year Sunday, with the anniversary marked by a Taliban statement claiming that NATO forces are “fleeing Afghanistan” in “humiliation and disgrace”.

The US led the invasion on October 7, 2001 to topple the Taliban government for harbouring Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

The Taliban were quickly routed, but launched an insurgency that grew in strength over the years until NATO had some 130,000 troops from 50 countries defending the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

The troops have now begun pulling out and all foreign combat forces will be gone by the end of 2014 according to a withdrawal schedule agreed by the US and NATO.

In a new video from the Cato Institute, Malou Innocent, Christopher Preble, and David Rittgers note that it has been 10 years since the United States invaded Afghanistan, which serves as a reminder that our policy has changed over the years to nation-building and occupation and that it is time to withdraw from the Graveyard of Empires:

The folks at the Cato Institute have put together a good video with featuring some of their scholars - Jim Harper, Malou Innocent, Christopher Preble and David Rittgers - discussing what the death of Osama bin Laden means to the United States from a foreign policy and civil liberties perspective:

The Obama Administration is claiming progress in Afghanistan and that the timetable for beginning withdrawal in July of next year is on time:

President Obama says the United States is “on track” in Afghanistan. He released a year-end strategy review Thursday that says al Qaeda’s senior leadership is weaker than it’s been since the U.S. invasion in 2001.

In much of the country the Taliban’s momentum has been stopped or reversed. U.S. troops will begin leaving in July as scheduled.

CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports a year ago, the U.S. was, by many accounts, losing in Afghanistan. Now the commander in chief says the tide of battle has turned.

“We’ve gone on the offensive, targeting the Taliban and its leaders and pushing them out of their strongholds,” says Mr. Obama.

Defense secretary Gates is just back from visiting U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

“The sense of progress among those closest to the fight is palpable. The Taliban control far less territory today than they did a year ago,” he says.

Progress is only temporary unless Afghan forces can take over the fighting from the Americans and that will require 18 to 24 months depending on the area. For instance, the former Taliban stronghold of Marjah in southern Afghanistan where the Marines launched an offensive 11 months ago.

“If you look at Marjah in terms of next summer - so six months from now - we think we’re going to be in a pretty good place in Marjah,” says Gates.

That fits the president’s timetable of beginning a withdrawal down from the current 100,000 troops in July 2011 but still leaves the U.S. a long way from meeting its goal of all combat troops out by the end of 2014.