Category Archives: Afghanistan

The Great Game – All New Mega-Multiplayer 21st Century Edition!

Everyone agrees that events are fluid in General Petraeus’ broad domain, from Pakistan to Iraq, from Uzbekistan to the Horn of Africa.  Wouldn’t you love to hear how his intelligence briefings are going these days?  Come to think of it, there was an item about a raid on Wahhabists in Bosnia this week, too… so [...]

On the Surge to the Exits (To the President’s Right on Afghanistan #5)

Anyone who’s been interested in American military adventures and misadventures over the last couple of decades has probably seen Anthony Cordesman on TV at some point offering his highly professional, well-researched, crisply presented, carefully hedged, and almost invariably pessimistic assessments on whatever invasion, intervention, expedition, arms negotiation, or other military matter happens to be in [...]

DOUBLE CONTENTION OF THE DAY – losing is the only thing

…[W]e can thank goodness that the buck really does stop somewhere, and that the people we elect to the presidency, whatever their failings, do not want to be the ones who presided over American defeat in battle. No doubt they have a keen understanding that, while they might be applauded for losing in the salons [...]

The longer view on American strategy: Obama vs Nixon; Afghanistan vs Vietnam

Back on the main topic of the day:  As usual, George Friedman of STRATFOR takes a different perspective – broader, longer-term, less politicized around current issues and personalities – than almost anyone else does (at least in public).  His conclusion:
Every war has its center of gravity, and Obama has made clear that the center of [...]

OK, Here’s the Plan: There Isn’t One

What a brilliant military strategist Barack Obama is! Who woulda thunk it? The “plan” he outlined last night is sure to go down in the annals of military history, alongside the Schlieffen Plan and the Battle of the Cowpens. Goes sorta like this: You send 75% of the troops your commander on the ground asks [...]

Maybe words don’t matter…

[T]he Afghan war will be won or lost on the ground and Obama has given McChrystal the basic tools he needs. About that we should be very glad.
“The Test” – Rich Lowry – The Corner on National Review Online.

Someone had to say it…

Coincidentally, the President’s arbitrary deadline assumes the war will be winding down and troops returning home just when the Administration is ramping up its campaign for re-election.
Hatch: Obama, Eyeing Reelection, Has ‘Handicapped’ U.S. Forces – NRO

CONTENTION OF THE DAY – blood, toil, tears, and sweat… within limits

The nuts and bolt may be almost right, but war-fighting and war-leading is more than getting the troop levels right. It was in many ways a self-indulgent and counterproductive effort. He’s not going to win over the Left, and he frittered away a chance to sound like he really does mean to do whatever it [...]

Trying real hard… (updated)

…not to respond prematurely to the latest scuttlebutt:
President Obama is sending 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan but plans to conclude the war and withdraw most U.S. service members within three years, senior administration officials told CNN Tuesday.
Tom Ricks – leftwing but calls-em-like-he-sees-em and well-informed – approvingly quotes a “tip from a friend” regarding the Big [...]

Barack Obama Isn’t the President, but He Plays One on TV

I frankly can’t remember at this point whether this ever happened to me personally, but one of the supposed quintessential moments of an American childhood education is having a report due at school and creating a terrific cover to compensate for the absence of serious content. I know Barack Obama was reputedly a whiz in [...]

Max Boot on Multi-Verse Theory

Max Boot, concluding an otherwise quite useful post on the latest rumors regarding the President’s Afghanistan troop request decision (my emphasis):
It is imperative also that [the President] not make this a perfunctory announcement but rather goes on the stump, as he has for health-care reform, to make clear to the American people — and just [...]

A heartfelt cry from a Gold Star Mother

So, 9 months into his presidency, Barack Obama still can’t decide what campaign position to take on the war in Afghanistan…remember, “The Good War”?
Oh, sure, he can go to fundraisers (7 since McChrystal’s report), date nights with Michelle, scold edmunds.com and fox and the AP, but, darn it all, Afghanistan is just too tough for [...]

Is Europe Falling Out of Love with Obama?

An editorial in Der Spiegel by Claus Christian Malzahn suggests that American conservatives are not the only ones growing increasingly restive over the duffer-in-chief’s continued diddling over Afghanistan. Evidently his “friends” across the Atlantic have also begun tapping their fingers nervously and gazing uncomfortably at their watches.
“The world,” Malzahn writes, “has been waiting for clear [...]

CONTENTION OF THE DAY – best compromise, worst choice

If media leaks are to be believed, President Obama will attempt to chart a middle way in Afghanistan, sending more soldiers but not as many as General Stanley McChrystal would like. The New York Times describes the emerging strategy as “McChrystal for the city, Biden for the country,” a blend of the diametrically opposed approaches [...]

Don’t let events disturb your dithering

Terrible day.
And Iraq, very bad indeed. Obama: “hateful.”

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