FROM THE ARCHIVES

One Year Ago — September 25, 2010

Afghanistan Strategic Thinking

Members of a U.S. military “Red Team” gather at a base in Kabul on Sept. 15, 2010. From left, Staff Sgt. Steven Dietz, Ph.D.; Lt. Col. Bruce Ferrell; Lt. Col. Michael McGee; and Lt. Col. Brian Hammerness. (Photo credit: Ahmed Massoud / AP)

One year ago today, I featured the five-member “Red team,” which is rethinking the war in Afghanistan and questioning some of the basic assumptions behind the effort to clean up corruption and gain the upper hand over the Taliban.

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Two Years Ago — September 25, 2009

‘Tiring’ of Afghanistan War

A man walks on debris at the site of a suicide bomb attack in the town of Bannu, Pakistan, on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009. (Photo credit: Adil Khan / Reuters)

Two years ago today, on September 25, 2009, I reported that President Barack Obama, speaking at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh on a day the Pentagon announced five more American deaths in Afghanistan, said he understood that Americans were tiring of the war in Afghanistan and that he was examining whether the U.S. was pursuing the right strategy there.

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Three Years Ago — September 25, 2008

Karzai Says Too Many Afghan Civilians Killed in U.S.-Led Bombing Raids

Pakistani schoolchildren are admitted to a hospital after they were injured in a suicide attack in Quetta, Pakistan on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008. Militants threatened to escalate the violence if Pakistan did not cease cooperating with the United States on the war in Afghanistan. (Photo credit: Arshad Butt / AP)

Three years ago today, on September 25, 2008, I reported on a speech at the United Nations by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in which he decried civilian casualties in his country from foreign bombing raids, telling world leaders that innocent deaths can seriously hurt legitimate efforts to fight terrorism. I also reported on continuing violence in Iraq and threats by militants in Pakistan to escalate the violence in that country if Pakistan did not cease cooperating with the United States.