From Peter Spiegel and James Lamont, the Financial Times:  The west must continue to co-operate closely with Pakistan despite US claims that Pakistan’s intelligence agency is assisting Islamist insurgents fighting allied troops in Afghanistan, Nato’s secretary-general has said.

From Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg:  The U.S. military in Afghanistan has nearly tripled since 2009 the frequency of commando raids launched against Taliban or insurgent groups, according to NATO figures.

From the Editors of the Washington Post:  President Obama failed to offer a convincing military or strategic rationale for the troop withdrawals from Afghanistan that he announced Wednesday night.

From Michael O'Hanlon, the Washington Post:  America’s political debate has turned to government spending, debt and the country’s long-term economic health. Many rightly view the military budget as an important ingredient in any deficit-reduction plan.

From James Blitz, the Financial Times:  The US must stick to its broad counter insurgency strategy in Afghanistan and reject calls for a narrower focus under which Washington would significantly reduce troop numbers, Nato’s senior diplomat has warned.

On February 1st, the South Asia Center launched its new report, "Learning by Doing: The Pakistan Army's Experience with Counterinsurgency," by  Director Shuja Nawaz.

In the South Asia Center report "Learning by Doing: The Pakistan Army's Experience with Counterinsurgency," Center Director and author Shuja Nawaz examines the doctrinal shift toward counterinsurgency (COIN) that has taken place in the Pakistan army in recent years.

From Mark Sedwill, NATO:  Essentially what we would expect to happen, if you look at a province, what we would expect to happen is that as Afghan Security Forces take on more responsibility we can thin out.