Charles G. Cogan
Associate, International Security Program
Contact:
Telephone: 617-864-3959
Email: chuck_cogan@harvard.edu
Website: http://www.drcharlesgcogan.net
AP Photo
July 22, 2011
"The bin Laden Operation: What's Not To Like?"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"The U.S. was right, of course, not to notify the Pakistani authorities prior to the operation, however much the Pakistanis have come to resent this. What is amazing in this operation is that there were a number of Pakistanis independently recruited to help in the operation (at least one of whom has since been arrested by the Pakistani Government), and yet the operation did not leak."
AP Photo
July 13, 2011
"At Camp Victory: A Dubious Rationale"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"It is tempting to call this rationale disingenuous but we will call it merely dubious. We would have thought that the effort to link Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda was a relic of the administration of George W. Bush, the centerpiece of which was the fictitious meeting in Prague between an Iraqi intelligence officer and Mohammed al-Atta, the team leader of the 9/11 attackers."
AP Photo
June 28, 2011
"Comfort for Gaddafi, Pain for Obama: Is This the Formula We Want?"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"On June 24, the House of Representatives rejected a bill to authorize U.S. military operations in Libya, thus registering its displeasure with President Obama for not having consulted it before launching hostilities there. Somewhat contradictorily, the House then voted down a second resolution that would have cut off funds for certain types of operations against the Libyan regime. This was the mixed message about American will that has been sent to Libya's grotesque leader."
AP Photo
June 23, 2011
"President Obama's Drawdown in Afghanistan"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"We do not have a moral responsibility in Afghanistan. In late 2001 we overthrew the Taliban government that was sheltering al-Qaeda. It is not our responsibility as to how many Afghan children go to school. It is our responsibility to fix the American school system."
AP Photo
June 10, 2011
"A Subliminal Message from President Obama"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"The count of al-Qaeda operatives remaining in Afghanistan, now without their charismatic leader, is supposedly in the low hundreds, if even that many. Why waste time over there? President Obama has pointed the way: in approving a (second) surge in late 2009, he stipulated that the withdrawal of American forces in Afghanistan would take place starting in July 2011. Let the withdrawal begin!"
AP Photo
May 24, 2011
"The Arab Spring in the Southern Mediterranean"
Op-Ed
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
The violence committed by the security forces—particularly in Egypt by the Mabaheth Amn el Dawlah, the State Security Investigation Service—had a profound effect on the population. The most notorious example was that of the young Khaled Said, who was hauled from an internet cafe and beaten to death. The photograph of his mangled face was put on the web by a Google employee in Cairo, Wael Ghonim, who was in turn arrested and imprisoned for some ten days. On his release, he was to emerge as one of the heroes of the Egyptian revolution.
AP Photo
March 24, 2011
"Exponentially Yours: How Facebook Has Destabilized Arab Potentates"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"Even Morocco, protected to a degree by the aura of a monarchy that claims descent from the Prophet, has not been spared. There is, in fact, an incipient protest movement that has arisen, stimulated in reaction to the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. The movement, called the 'Movement of 20 February for democracy and liberty now,' has not come out for the removal of the King but rather that the King give up some of his powers and become more of a constitutional monarch...."
AP Photo
March 15, 2011
"Toujours de l'Audace!"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"...M. Sarkozy came up with a proposal to create a no-fly zone over Libya but also to engage in surgical strikes. This he did, with the French penchant for secrecy and for creating a surprise effect, without consulting his European allies (except, perhaps, David Cameron), and even, it seems, his new foreign minister, Alain Juppé. M. Sarkozy may not be on the wrong side of history, but he seems to be on the wrong side of the tactical situation. Muammar Gadhafi, with his superiority in equipment and in trained forces, seems to be wrapping up the opposition to his regime."
AP Photo
March 7, 2011
"Curb Your Messianism"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
In a more pragmatic vein, there is the view of Robert Gates, who seems to have acquired a touch of iconoclasm as he nears the end of a highly-regarded term as Secretary of Defense. He had this to say about the no-fly zone last week: "Let's just call a spade a spade. A no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya to destroy the air defenses. That's the way you do a no-fly zone. And then you can fly planes around the country and not worry about our guys being shot down. But that's the way it starts."
AP Photo
February 22, 2011
"It Ain't Cricket: World 130, United States 1"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"...[T]he formulaic call for 'direct negotiations between the parties' is another way of saying that the Israelis can remain in control, they being by far the strongest party. No, it ain't cricket. But the game isn't over. The next scene will be in September with a proposal that Palestine be admitted to the United Nations."
