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.

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.

Andrea Elliott tells the story of a young boy from Alabama who grew up to become a key figure in terrorism.

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.

The CIA has expanded its focus to include more paramilitary missions rather than intelligence collection, write Greg Miller and Julie Tate of The Washington Post.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press indicates that the American public generally views the government's response to terrorism favorably, yet fewer than half of those surveyed  believe that government policies have prevented another major attack on the United States.

Brian Michael Jenkins, Senior Adviser to the President of the RAND Corporation, revisits the topic of homegrown terrorism, expands on earlier writings about domestic counterterrorist strategy, and updates the numbers and case descriptions to include all of 2010.

Philip Seib writes that public diplomacy may serve as a great counterterrorism tool.

Peter Skerry and Gary Schmitt argue that Muslim Americans should more openly engage in the rhetoric and misunderstandings surrounding their communities.

Meg Stalcup and Joshua Craze discuss some of the personalities behind the counterterrorism training programs around the country.

This RFE/ RL portrait of an Afghan village on the front lines of the fight to prevent the Taliban from spreading futher north in Konduz Province depicts the challenges that local opponents of the Taliban face.

State policies permitting the use of targeted killings are often justified as a necessary and legitimate response to "terrorism" and "asymmetric warfare," but have had the very problematic effect of blurring and expanding the boundaries of the applicable legal frameworks. This report describes the new targeted killing policies and addresses the main legal issues that have arisen.

In this Wall Street Journal article, Reuel Marc Gerecht discusses how terrorists are demonstrating counterintelligence ability that the CIA may have underestimated.

In the New York Times Magazine, Peter Baker discusses the challenges that President Obama faces as the new administration fights the war on terror.

Ambassador Daniel Benjamin says that though President Obama has articulated a clear counterterrorism policy - to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qaida and its allies - we need to confront the political, social, and economic conditions that our enemies exploit to win over the new recruits and those whose tacit support enables the militants to carry forward their plans.

Scott Shane examines the Pashtunistan region, and its implications for American foreign policy in the near future, commenting that "Mr. Obama's surge depends a lot on the hearts and minds of the Pashtuns - and who seems a winner."