Summary: Thousands of Afghans shouting “Death to America!” protested the killings of children, the latest in a string of controversial cases in which international forces have been blamed for civilian deaths. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on January 7, 2009, Aubrey Immelman examined the latest lead in the kidnapping of Jacob Wetterling and provided links to reports on the Wetterling and Joshua Guimond missing person cases in St. Joseph and Collegeville, Minnesota.

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Summary: Lt. Col. Thomas B. Gukeisen, who commands 600 soldiers at Forward Operating Base Altimur in Logar province, Afghanistan, has achieved success operating by his own innovative ideas about counterinsurgency warfare. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on December 20, 2008, Aubrey Immelman reported that Iraq’s parliament had voted to reject a draft law allowing troops from Britain, Australia, and several other countries to remain in Iraq beyond the end of 2008.

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Summary: Finding Bin Laden: Here’s what we know about Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts, based on information from U.S. intelligence sources; analysis by NBC News senior investigative producer Robert Windrem. … Personality profiles of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri by Aubrey Immelman, Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on December 10, 2008, Aubrey Immelman reported that Thomas Fingar, Bush administration deputy director of national intelligence for analysis, had suggested the Iraq war was as much the failure of policymakers as the product of the flawed intelligence on which they relied. Fingar’s assessment reveals that decision-making on Iraq was marred by a strong sense of time pressure, a tendency among decision makers to seek concurrence on Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction, and a directive leadership style in the White House — all of which are well-established causes of groupthink. Furthermore, according to the Gayle Report, the Department of Defense knew before the start of the Iraq war in 2003 of the threats of mines and roadside bombs in Iraq but did nothing to acquire Mine Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicles ahead of the invasion — a level of overconfidence symptomatic of groupthink.

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Summary: For President Barack Obama, the economic cost of his Afghanistan surge plan proved troubling, after he received a private budget memo estimating that an expanded U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan would cost $1 trillion over 10 years, roughly the same as his health care reform plan. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on December 7, 2008, Aubrey Immelman reported that from Basra in the south to Irbil in the north, Iraqi activists are trying to counter the rising influence of religious fundamentalists and tribal chieftains who have insisted that women wear the veil, prevented girls from receiving education, and sanctioned killings of women accused of besmirching their family’s honor.

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Summary: Analysis of President Barack Obama’s political personality, leadership style, and decision-making on Afghanistan. … The Taliban’s reclusive leader, Mullah Omar, has ruled out talks with President Hamid Karzai and called on Afghans to break off relations with the “stooge” Kabul administration and continue the jihad, implying there will be no negotiations while foreign troops are in the country. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on November 25, 2008, Aubrey Immelman reported that KBR, a contractor providing services to the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan, had committed serious violations of its contract, mainly by conducting inadequate inspections of electrical wiring and grounding at American bases. The Pentagon findings stemmed from the death of Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a highly decorated 24-year-old Green Beret from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who was electrocuted on January 2, 2008 while taking a shower at his base in Baghdad.

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Summary: A suicide bomber killed 16 people and wounded at least 23 others in a busy city square in western Afghanistan, while near the capital Kabul a powerful former warlord and ally of Afghan President Hamid Karzai narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on November 20, 2008, Aubrey Immelman reported that U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, appearing on Fox News’ “Hannity & Colmes” on November 18, 2008, dismissed as an “urban legend” reports that she had said on an October 17, 2008 cable show with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that then-Sen. Barack Obama and other members of Congress “may have anti-American views” and that “the news media should do a penetrating exposé … and find out if they’re pro-America or anti-America.”

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Summary: The White House forcefully rejected criticism from former Vice President Dick Cheney that President Barack Obama is “waffling” and “dithering” on his Afghanistan war strategy. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the sixth day of his write-in campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman analyzed MN-06 poll data, noting that U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s support had remained steady in the wake of her controversial McCarthyite statement on MSNBC’s “Hardball” with Chris Matthews that she wants the media to investigate which members of Congress “are pro-America or anti-America.”

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Summary: The father of Army Spc. Stephan Mace, killed in action near Kamdesh, northeast Afghanistan, when several hundred Taliban fighters armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked and nearly overran Combat Outpost Keating, says the U.S. is “fighting a war with too few people” and that the troops at Kamdesh were “sitting ducks.” … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the first day after announcing a write-in campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman featured former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s stinging rebuke of Bachmann for alleging Barack Obama “may hold anti-American views” and suggesting that the media investigate which members of Congress are “pro-America or anti-America.” Immelman also reported on halting progress in the U.S.-Iraq status-of-forces agreement, ongoing violence in Iraq, and escalating violence in Afghanistan.

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Summary: Calling for more international troops, Afghanistan’s defense minister says thousands of foreign fighters are pouring into Afghanistan to bolster the Taliban insurgency. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 31st day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his focus on national security, reported that a pending National Intelligence Estimate will conclude that Afghanistan is in a downward spiral and that U.S. intelligence agencies doubt that the Kabul government has the ability to stem the rise of the Taliban, citing widespread corruption inside President Hamid Karzai’s government, an increase in attacks by militants operating out of Pakistan, and a general breakdown of central government authority in Afghanistan.

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Summary: Afghanistan’s Taliban mocked the award of a Nobel Peace Prize to U.S. President Barack Obama, saying he should get a Nobel Prize for violence instead. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 30th day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his focus on national security, reported on efforts by the U.S. and Iraq to hammer out a status-of-forces agreement amid meddling by Iran and rifts among Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdish factions in the Iraqi government.

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