The Afghan war, and when Afghans have a will of their own

The link: U.S. official resigns over Afghan war (washingtonpost.com)
A quote:
Hoh was assigned to research the response to a question asked by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during an April visit. Mullen wanted to know why the U.S. military had been operating for years in the Korengal Valley, an isolated spot [...]

The payback in war of setting false expectations

The link: American troops in Afghanistan losing heart, say army chaplains (timesonline.co.uk).
A quote:
Sergeant Christopher Hughes, 37, from Detroit, has lost six colleagues and survived two roadside bombs. Asked if the mission was worthwhile, he replied: “If I knew exactly what the mission was, probably so, but I don’t.”
In Proverbs, it’s written, “Hope deferred makes the [...]

McChrystal, an aggressive man who knows when he has the advantage

The link: Barack Obama angry at General Stanley McChrystal speech on Afghanistan (telegraph.co.uk)
A quote:
An adviser to the administration said: “People aren’t sure whether McChrystal is being naïve or an upstart. To my mind he doesn’t seem ready for this Washington hard-ball and is just speaking his mind too plainly.”
and
Some [...]

There’s no war magic for McChrystal

The link: Ten US soldiers killed in Afghanistan (timesonline.co.uk)
A quote:
The US has suffered some of its worst casualties in eastern Afghanistan, where its soldiers have sought to control the remote passes through which Taleban fighters infiltrate from Pakistan, but it had planned shortly to withdraw from the area as part of General [...]

The Republican propaganda that results from requiring that we always win, from not recognizing that the world is a big place, that 300 million people aren’t all powerful

The link: George Will’s Afghanistan Moment (theatlanticwire.com)
A quote:
America’s slipping fortunes in Afghanistan have caused conservatives to ally with Obama on staying the course, while liberal and moderate support for the President’s war efforts have been foundering, as the Wire has covered here and here. Today, George Will, the premier tory conservative columnist in the Washington [...]

The rescue of hostages from FARC in Columbia

An interesting story concerning Columbia, a country I have a small connection with, a country that has become a strong ally with the U.S., and place I’d like to visit: Former Hostage Calls Ingrid Betancourt ‘Disgusting’

A Marine General butt kisser

The link: Pace offers regret for Iraq War mistakes
A quote:
“I certainly made some wrong estimates. And I certainly made some recommendations that, if I could take them back and change them, I would,” Pace told the small crowd, which included former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
But, adding a caveat of 20-20 hindsight, he said, “I also [...]

Democrats stating the obvious about war with statements unspoken by Republicans

In the NY Times article As Democrats See Iraq Gains, a Shift in Tone, some high profile Democrats make statements that I couldn’t say better.
From Hillary Clinton,
“Our troops are the best in the world; if you increase their numbers they are going to make a difference,” Mrs. Clinton said in a statement after her aides [...]

The politics of the cost of war

According to US reports ‘phenomenal’ drop in Iraq violence, some say that the “surge” is working.
I can believe that. If you allocate more resources to a job, in this case 30,000 more troops to the job of war, you would hope that you would get the job done better.
So what’s the problem? The problem is [...]

U.S.M.C, a breed apart

Army Desertion Rate Highest Since 1980
The Marine Corps’ desertion rate went down during time of war.
The Marine Corps, meanwhile, has seen the number of deserters stay fairly stable over that timeframe – with about 1,000 deserters a year. During 2003 and 2004 – the first two years of the Iraq war – the number of [...]