Need more information? Let's see what bloggers have to say about Afghanistan
LAT Writer: Obama Defense Picks are 'Centrists'; Peace Activist: You 'Can't Directly Criticize' Obama
Well, isn't this a hoot? As Barack Obama appears to be appointing less than totally pro-surrender officials to his inner circle, far leftists are feeling constrained in their criticism by Obama Mania. A Los Angeles Times article by Paul Richter with an amusing title ("Antiwar groups fear Barack Obama may create hawkish Cabinet") notes that Obama has appointed or is considering many people who originally supported the war in Iraq (this apparently automatically makes them "hawks"). Richter's
20 Nov 2008, 2:25 pm | click here for more
Judge Orders Release Of 5 Terror Suspects At Gitmo
By Lara Jakes Jordan AP | A federal judge has ordered the release of five Algerian terror suspects who have been held without charges almost seven years at Guantanamo Bay. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon said Thursday that the five men could not be held indefinitely as foe combatants. The judge said the military can continue to detain a sixth Algerian — Belkacem Bensayah — who was captured with the other five. One of the men to be released is Lakhdar Boumediene, whose landma
20 Nov 2008, 2:13 pm | click here for more
Wow, shouldn’t I be blogging?
In my nonblogging antsiness, I can’t seem to resist the inclination to correct the faux indignation of a right-wing blogger. (I posted two or maybe three comments there). The thread is illustrative. The blogger initially had a (weak, IMHO) point to make about tolerance, and the comment thread devolved into irrational name-calling. Why bother trying to jump into the fray? Sometimes you have to take the bait. For the record, I haven’t been blogging as often, though I still write as many comme
20 Nov 2008, 2:09 pm | click here for more
Heritage: Reforming U.S. Public Diplomacy for the 21st Century
Required reading for today: Heritage’s latest titled Reforming U.S. Public Diplomacy for the 21st Century by Tony Blankley, Helle C. Dale and Oliver Horn. (also required: President-elect Obama, we need a new nice of public diplomacy by Heritage’s Kim Holmes.) Margaret Thatcher once said that America is the only nation in the world "built upon an idea." This idea--liberty--has transcended geography and ethnicity to shape American identity and to inspire political discourse, both domestic and f
20 Nov 2008, 2:09 pm | click here for more
Unity can beat racists
Comment No benefit to anyone (Thursday 20 November 2008) SEVEN years of British involvement in the US-led illegal occupation of Afghanistan have brought no benefit to the people of either country. Unity can beat racists (Wednesday 19 November 2008) BRITISH Nazi Party leader Nick Griffin was opposed to the Human Rights Act becoming law, but he is not averse to using it to protect BNP members exposed on the internet as such. Speechless with rage (Tuesday 18
20 Nov 2008, 2:08 pm | click here for more
Russia’s declining population
Last week, the UN Population Fund released its State of World Population 2008 report. (Individual chapters are available here. The entire report is available here (PDF).) There is a host of data in it, but I’ll point out a couple things about Russia. First, from pdf page 89, the “baby mortality Total per 1,000 live births” is 16. For comparison, for the United States that number is 6. But, in South America five countries are over 20. (Bolivia is 45.) In Africa, most countries in Eastern Af
20 Nov 2008, 2:04 pm | click here for more
Barack Obama: This is change that there is no change.
U.S. policy is not about one individual, and no matter how much faith people place in President-elect Barack Obama, the policies he enacts will be fruit of a tree with many roots. Among them: his personal politics and views, the disastrous realities his administration will inherit, and, of course, unpredictable future crises. But the best immediate indicator of what an Obama administration might look like can be found in the people he surrounds himself with and who he appoints to his Cabinet. A
20 Nov 2008, 2:03 pm | click here for more
From the Front: 11/20/2008
News and Personal dispatches from the front and the home front. In their possess words: army poet: "They Say It's Your Birthday..." - The posts titled with tune titles/lyrics continue. It is my birthday today. icy snap here. wet and chilly. Sky is grey like steel. Although a little while ago a gleam of pale sun - faint yellow like a boiled egg -popped through the clouds. I am stuck in the North of
20 Nov 2008, 2:00 pm | click here for more
Pakistan, US coordinate strikes against the Taliban
Map of Afghanistan's provinces. Click map to view larger image. US and Pakistani forces operating along the porous border between Afghanistan’s Paktika province and the Waziristan tribal areas in Pakistan’s tribal areas coordinated attacks against Taliban forces on Nov. 18. The cooperative effort is the second this week, and signals a renewed effort to stem the flow of Taliban fighters crossing the border is underway. The US military contacted the Pakistani military after a US com
20 Nov 2008, 1:59 pm | click here for more
Pirates of the Somali Coast
A couple of posts ago, I asked why the navies of the world aren't trying harder to cease the Somali pirates. Yesterday, I had dinner with a pal of mine who follows world events more than I do (and who I'm trying to talk into co-blogging) and he had an answer that explains a lot. First of every, with every the shipping in the area, it's very difficult to spot the pirates in action until the moment they start their attack. Even if a warship spots a likely pirate boat, they can't legally take actio
20 Nov 2008, 1:58 pm | click here for more
Seven years of bloody failure
Seven years of bloody failure (Thursday 20 November 2008) by PAUL HASTE at Downing road THE FACE OF FREEDOM: A young Afghan lady recovering in hospital after being attacked with acid in Kandahar last week. PEACE campaigners delivered a stark message to Gordon Brown on Thursday - to "recognise the failure" of the Afghanistan occupation as the US-led war enters its eighth blood-soaked year. The cease the War Coalition called on the Prime Minister to "reassess Britai
20 Nov 2008, 1:49 pm | click here for more
Defining "Victory"
It seems that Dana Perino is arguing that the U.S.-Iraq security agreement means "that the conditions are such now that we are able to celebrate the victory that we’ve had so far." It's an interesting definition of "victory." I guess you can define victory as more than 4,000 American fatalities, more than 30,000 wounded, probably hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths, millions of Iraqis displaced, $1-$3 trillion in costs to the U.S. economy, an empowered Iran, an unaddressed threat in Afghan
20 Nov 2008, 1:48 pm | click here for more
A nation of laws?
Detainees at Gitmo From SCOTUSBLOG: U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon, in the first ruling to carry out the Supreme Court’s June decision on detainees’ rights, ordered the federal government to release five Guantanamo Bay detainees “forthwith.” The judge found, however, that the government had justified the continued imprisonment of a sixth detainee, Belkacem ben Sayah. The judge, in an unusual added comment, suggested to senior government leaders that they forgo an appeal of his ruling o
20 Nov 2008, 1:48 pm | click here for more
Idealism and ignorance...
Obama has repeatedly stated that he intends to close Gitmo and bring every those terrorists to our possess shores and put them on trial here. Now the Liberals just adore this idea because they think we are just hanging on to a bunch of goat herders there and they forget the fact that many of those released from Gitmo have shown up on the battlefield. But when you are dealing with idealism...often the brain is on vacation. Why do you think the US Government decided to hold these terroris
20 Nov 2008, 1:41 pm | click here for more
The Paradox of Rebuilding in Kabul
The Paradox of Rebuilding in Kabul Afghanistan | Are fortification and foreign aid making Kabul more dangerous? On a visit to Afghanistan, a writer describes its protected, “country club” enclaves as “a monument to the failures of reconstruction that could only serve to inflame and alienate Kabulis.” [Walrus]
20 Nov 2008, 1:39 pm | click here for more
Angelina Jolie: ‘Pax Still Saves Food’
Adopting an older child is a completely different experience than adopting an baby, and it comes with its possess set of unique challenges. Angelina Jolie has three adopted kids, but only middle child Pax, 5 this month, was adopted as an older child; he lived in an orphanage in Vietnam for the first three years of his life. Angelina has shared before some of the funnier parts of helping him adjust, saying when they first adopted him, “he would take five baths a day,” they “had trouble convi
20 Nov 2008, 1:36 pm | click here for more
Making Afghanistan stronger, one school at a time
Penguin Group (USA), working with the United Nations Refugee Agency and novelist Khaled Hosseini, announced the opening of a new school for kids in Afghanistan that will serve 270 local kids, Publisher's Weekly reports. The project was inspired by the bestselling Hosseini, who wrote The Kite Runner and the devastating A Thousand Splendid Suns, who was chosen as an envoy to the agency in 2006. The school is located in Arababshirali, about 150 miles from Kabul.
20 Nov 2008, 1:31 pm | click here for more
Joint Experts' Statement on Iran
Below is a statement on Iran that I and others are hoping will be adopted in Washington as a way forward. Any of my readers who has a way of getting this statement to decision-makers in Washington should please do so. Just Foreign Policy is doing it as a petition. Also, my blogger colleagues should please comment widely on it. It was carried by wire services such as Reuters and also the Associated Press. Gary Kamiya at Salon pointed to it. Michael Theodolu covered the statement in t
20 Nov 2008, 1:28 pm | click here for more
Nov. 19 airpower summary
Nov. 19 airpower summary Nov. 19 airpower summary: KC-10s bring fuel A KC-10 Extender from the 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron parks after a refueling mission. Air Force and coalition aerial refueling crews flew 41 sorties and off-loaded approximately 2.6 million pounds of fuel to 237 receiving aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Matt Cook) Download HiRes 11/20/2008 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) -- Coalition airpower integrated with coalition g
20 Nov 2008, 1:23 pm | click here for more
Suicide bomber kills 9 in Afghanistan
KHOST, Afghanistan, Nov 20 (Reuters) - A suicide car-bomber killed nine people and wounded 16, including two U.S. soldiers, in an attack on Thursday on a government compound in eastern Afghanistan, a government official said. [REUTERS] [Read More]
20 Nov 2008, 1:17 pm | click here for more