2014 or Bust: The Pentagon’s Afghan Building Boom
So Much for Europe
Heeding George Kennan’s Sage Advice
I can't remember how many times I have said that the U.S. military adventure in Afghanistan is a fool's errand. The reaction I frequently encounter includes some variant of "How can you blithely acquiesce in the chaos that will inevitably ensue if we and our NATO...
‘Twas Brillig in Bananastan
Who's the bigger fraud: Hamid Karzai, or the phalanx of Western toads who are hailing him as the "legitimate" president of Afghanistan? To review the bidding: Karzai appointed a gang of crooks as election officials who threw the original election to his...
Tossing the COIN in Afghanistan
Our new counterinsurgency doctrine [.pdf] is obsolete before it has even been tried. If you have a high tolerance for asininity, go directly to the Web site of "President" Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and feast your eyes on the litany of congratulations...
The American Way of Abandonment
When America is about to throw an ally to the wolves, we follow an established ritual. We discover that the man we supported was never really morally fit to be a friend or partner of the United States. When Chiang Kai-shek, who fought the Japanese for four years...
Polls Give False Impressions About War
Polling results have tracked so closely with the politicization of the Afghan war that it's difficult to discern the public's actual views in such a polarized environment. The polls tell us less about what the public is really feeling than about how well the two...
