SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE 12/17/09 By Michael Shank I was not in America feasting on pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. I was in Afghanistan during the Muslim holiday of Eid, also a day to give thanks. Landing in Kabul , I wondered what there was to be thankful for. Poverty plagued the […]
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS 12/12/2009 By Michael Shank Wrapping up a whirlwind tour in Afghanistan, I am overwhelmed with what I found and how far afield it is from Washington’s thinking. Many congressional delegations come to Kabul but rarely experience on-the-ground realities. The way I could guarantee a raw look […]
WASHINGTON TIMES 12/09/09 By Michael Shank Last month I went to Afghanistan, not with a congressional delegation but on my own. My boss, Rep. Michael M. Honda, California Democrat, is chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ Afghanistan Task Force and has a keen interest in rethinking U.S. strategy there. With […]
THE NATION 12/05/09 By Michael Shank Returning to Washington this week, after a whirlwind tour in Afghanistan, I am dizzy, not from delight but from the overwhelming disconnect between rhetoric stateside and reality Asia-side. Thankfully, my boss, Congressman Michael Honda, chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus’s Afghanistan Taskforce, is trying […]
ROLL CALL 12/03/09 By Michael Shank Last week I went to Afghanistan, not on a Congressional delegation, but on my own. My boss, Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), is chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ Afghanistan Taskforce and has a keen interest in rethinking U.S. strategy in this country. With the […]
THE GUARDIAN 12/03/08 By Michael Shank and Shukria Dellawar With Robert Gates remaining at the helm of the US defence department for another term, Barack Obama signals that the Pentagon’s modus operandi changes little. There are pros and cons to this. The good news: lessons learned from George Bush’s administration […]
THE GUARDIAN 10/14/08 By Michael Shank Wandering seven long years in the mountains and deserts of Afghanistan with hardly an end in sight, the US has just been offered a most fortuitous fix. It likely eludes America’s current president and queuing candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, but not for […]
THE HILL 09/12/08 By Michael Shank (Regarding article “McCain, Obama applaud Musharraf’s resignation,” Aug. 18.) Have presidential candidates Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) learned nothing from the resignation of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf? Both noted the exit of coup-installed Musharraf should “open the door to cooperation…in the […]
FINANCIAL TIMES 09/05/08 By Michael Shank Sir, In an apparent editorial about-face (“Crime and the credit crunch”, September 2), you claim that larger police forces and harsher prison sentences are responsible for lower levels of crime and that the link between economic growth and crime is weak. This is hardly […]
JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE OPERATIONS Vol 3, No. 6 May-June 08 By Michael Shank For all of Washington’s white papers on the war in Iraq, testimonies by General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, and wonkish retching over the war’s latest development – the recent routing of Iraq Prime Minister Nouri […]