Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 3:34PM President Obama’s pledge to “begin” withdrawals in July 2011 is rendered virtually meaningless by this weeks’ endorsement of a 2014 timeline for Afghan troops to take over their country’s security. By then another 2,000 Americans could be dead and the cost of the war will reach one-trillion dollars.
Afghanistan, The Long War Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 10:34AM Rachel Maddow’s televised roadshow in Afghanistan ended last week with a one-hour personal interview with Richard Holbrooke, an “honor” she said. Maddow is very bright, witty, great in conversation, a pivotal person in the progressive community and among Democrats. But there was a potential Walter Cronkite moment in her interview, and Maddow passed on it.
Afghanistan, The Long War Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 3:50PM South Korea should be the most faithful of US allies in the Afghanistan War, but a visit here last week revealed the hollowness of the US-led alliance. There still are 27,000 American troops at the Demilitarized Zone, one of the remaining flash points of the Cold War. A huge American base is located in the center of Seoul. The US troops stand astride the external defense boundary of the US, in Pentagon-speak. Thousand(s) of American lives and billions in tax dollars have been spent in making South Korea a key factor in the Pacific power balance.
Afghanistan, Long War, South Korea Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 2:00PM Two key antiwar critics, Senator Russ Feingold and Representative Jim McGovern, are expected to introduce legislation as early as next week calling for a "flexible timetable" for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. The proposal, now in final stages of preparation, was confirmed by McGovern and by Feingold's office.
Afghanistan, Congress, Obama Monday, March 29, 2010 at 11:08AM Without public debate and without congressional hearings, a segment of the Pentagon and fellow travelers have embraced a doctrine known as the Long War, which projects an "arc of instability" caused by insurgent groups from Europe to South Asia that will last between 50 and 80 years. According to one of its architects, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are just "small wars in the midst of a big one."
Afghanistan, Long War, Obama 