The CIA's drone program, while successful, has been largely unpopular in Pakistan. But drone strikes are decreasing since they peaked in 2010. Peter Bergen and Jennifer Rowland of CNN ask: Is it because of politics or because we're running out of real targets?

The Washington Post profiles the head of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, who for six years has been architect of the agency's drone campaign, and has led its pursuit of Osama bin Laden. Surly and profane, he has outlasted three CIA directors and served two presidents.

This Congressional Research Service report provides an overview of Special Operations Forces, elite military units with special training that can infiltrate into hostile territory to conduct a variety of operations, many of them classified.

In the New York media, fighting and personalities in the FBI and NYPD are frequently covered like a dysfunctional celebrity marriage, with perceived betrayal and reconciliation spilling into the news, writes Adam Goldman of the Associated Press.

John McCain, Joseph I. Lieberman and Lindsey Graham, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, believe President Obama should "resist the short-sighted calls for additional troop reductions" in Afghanistan.

Matthew Kroenig and Barry Pavel examine the potential of deterrence to help thwart future terrorist attacks.

Obama's targeted drone strikes--even on Americans--aren't illegal, writes Jack Goldsmith for Foreign Policy. In fact, he writes, there's a solid legal foundation and a number of checks and balances upholding his right to take out terrorists.

Admiral William H. McRaven, U.S. Navy, Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, gave this testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 6, 2012.

Matthew C. Waxman discusses U.S. attorney general Eric Holder's address providing the Obama administration's legal rationale for targeted killings of certain al Qaeda suspects--including U.S. citizens.

Targeted killings have become a central component of U.S. counterterrorism operations around the globe. Despite pointed criticism over transparency and accountability issues, analysts say the controversial practice seems likely to expand in the future.

Pakistani journalist Najam Sethi discusses the factors behind anti-Americanism in Pakistan. He says the two countries have failed to develop a strategic relationship because of their differences in Afghanistan.

Detainee policy that would mandate military custody for al-Qaeda suspects captured in the United States could have a detrimental impact on U.S. counterterrorism operations, say CFR legal experts Matthew C. Waxman and John B. Bellinger III.

The Carnegie Endowment's Christopher Boucek discusses the developing situation in Yemen and what strategies the U.S. might pursue to most successfully reduce violence in the country.

Stuart Levey and Christy Clark argue that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is the world's premier standard-setting body for combating terrorist financing and money laundering, and it should develop and enforce standards for sanctions implementation.

Max Boot says the death of Anwar al-Awlaki is a fleeting victory without stability in Yemen.

John B. Bellinger III examines the legality of drone strikes used by the United States against al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders.

Following the ten-year anniversary of 9/11 and the six-year anniversary of the London subway bombings, Theresa May discusses counterterrorism strategy in the United Kingdom. The meeting focused on the nature of the threat, its evolution, the impact of events like the Arab Spring, and the United Kingdom's response, particularly as it prepares for the 2012 Olympics.

John O. Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, gave these remarks at Harvard Law School on September 16, 2011.

President Obama issued this executive order on September 9, 2011. Among its provisions, it calls for a new body, the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, to "coordinate, orient, and inform Government-wide public communications activities directed at audiences abroad and targeted against violent extremists and terrorist organizations, especially al-Qa'ida and its affiliates and adherents, with the goal of using communication tools to reduce radicalization by terrorists and extremist violence and terrorism that threaten the interests and national security of the United States."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave these remarks on counterterrorism at John Jay School of Criminal Justice in New York on September 9, 2011.