This is unsettling. Former CIA man Bruce Riedel, who recently led the Obama team's Af-Pak review, writes that "the jihadists in South Asia increasingly smell blood in the water and believe victory in within their reach." Riedel cites this disturbing interview with al Qaeda's leader in Afghanistan, Mustafa abu al Yazid, who said last week:
God willing, the nuclear weapons will not fall into the hands of the Americans and the Mujahideen would take them and use them against the Americans.
The good news is that Riedel seems to think the West has finally come to its senses and learned to take Afghanistan and Pakistan more seriously. The bad news is there's no guarantee of success.
--Michael Crowley