Kandel's Stuff

While Libya is a first-tier humanitarian problem, it is, at most, a seventh-tier national security challenge for the U.S. Here is a quick, back-of-the-envelope list of areas across the greater Middle East that demand more American attention than Libya:

1. Afghanistan/Pakistan. If only because 100,000 American troops are engaged in combat operations in Afghanistan, this would qualify as the problem most deserving of continuous American attention. And given that the war isn’t going overly well, and that Pakistan is the prime exporter of international jihadists; is the probable home of Al Qaeda’s leadership; and is also a nuclear state, it would seem that this combination of Stans demands extraordinary American effort;