Afghanistan as a Patronage Machine
It's now a commonplace of the Afghan War. Western leaders in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Washington, as well as on flying visits to Kabul or even Kandahar, excoriate Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the "corruption" of his government. In return for their ongoing...
Welcome Home, War!
Drone Race to a Known Future
For drone freaks (and these days Washington seems full of them), here's the good news: Drones are hot! Not long ago – 2006 to be exact – the Air Force could barely get a few armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the air at once; now, the number is 38; by 2011, it...
Who Will Be Sent to Afghanistan?
2014 or Bust: The Pentagon’s Afghan Building Boom
Too Big to Fail?
Why Obama’s Iran Policy Will Fail
There's an old joke that goes something like this: A self-absorbed fellow, meeting a friend, launches into an endless soliloquy about himself, then abruptly stops and says, "Well, enough about me. Now, tell me what you think of me." Sometimes Washington has...
The Great Superpower Meltdown
Think of us as just having passed through the failed era of "must" in Washington. For almost eight years, George W. Bush made speeches and appearances in which he hectored this or that country, or enemy, or people about what they "must" do. Never, I suspect,...
