As written by Rachel Porto, 23, widow of Cpl Jonathan Daniel Porto.As posted in The Washington Post on Mother's Day:A cassette tape is waiting for me. It sits in a small bubble mailer on my night table. It stares at me when I walk in...
Retired General James Jones, who is a senior national security advisor to the Obama administration, told a joke at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, regarding a Jew in the desert of Afghanistan who outwitted a member of the Taliban. The joke plays upon...
On March 14, 2010, Marine Corporal Jonathan Daniel Porto was killed in Afghanistan.Every loss of one of our soldiers is tragic, but this tragedy has hit home because Cpl. Porto's wife has posted about it at her blog, A Little Pink in a World of...
Iran is killing American and coalition soldiers in Afghanistan.And not because Israel issued a building permit for more homes in an already Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem.As reported by the Times of London, Iranians train Taliban to use roadside bombs:TALIBAN commanders have revealed that hundreds of...
Adam Gadahn has been captured, reportedly.Good. Period.This is a fight on which we all should be on the same side.But wait for it: This proves Obama's anti-terrorism strategy is better than Bush's -What, you mean working with your allies as opposed to trying to run...
Good news. The NY Times is reporting that the second in command of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Baradar, has been captured in Pakistan.The capture was undertaken by the Pakistanis with help from the CIA:Details of the raid remain murky, but officials said that it had...
Not by me. A comparison between Barack Obama and former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev is suggested by a blogger at Crooks and Liars, using this graphic to attack Obama's decision to increase U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan.The Soviets invaded Afghanistan to help prop up a...
Some more thoughts on the Obama Afghanistan speech, the morning after.I understood why Obama wanted to go to West Point to give the speech. It would show that he had the courage to give the speech directly to soldiers whose lives would be on the...
"A camel is a horse designed by a committee." That's the feeling I had listening to Obama's speech tonight about his military designs for Afghanistan.The speech followed pre-speech reports of Obama's plan. There were no substantive surprises, but Obama seemed truly moved by the decision...
Can't seem to get motivated to write in great detail about John Kerry's "hey, look, I just issued a report about George W. deliberately letting Osama go in Tora Bora, you know, the same argument I have been making for several years and which failed...
Obama's new Afghanistan strategy, to be announced formally next week, centers around the phrase "finish the job."That is an interesting concept. Seems simlar to "peace with honor," a very Nixonian phrase signaling that we will claim one thing (the dreaded "V" word) while accepting something...
"The fierce urgency of now." One of Barack Obama's favorite lines. But used only when convenient.As in, "we need to pass the stimulus bill immediately, or there will be a financial disaster. Forget reading the bill, just pass it so I can sign it immediately...
Karl Eikenberry, who was in charge of training the Afghan Army from 2002-2003, and in charge of all U.S. military operations in Afghanistan from 2005-2007, now is Ambassador to Afghanistan. Eikenberry apparently is the dissenting voice on the Obama national security team which caused Obama...
Obama is rejecting all Afghanistan military options presented to him by his national security team after months of consultation, and wants "revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government."Will someone tell our President this is not a...
Regarding Obama administration policy towards Hamid Karzai, the President of Afghanistan, it is reported: Obama administration officials are saying they'll judge Karzai on his appointments ...
Obama has a massive foreign policy problem. It's called John Kerry. Kerry has been running his own foreign policy mission in Afghanistan, lecturing the locals, and now is back home lecturing the locals.Kerry has come out against the troop surge requested by General Stanley McChrystal...
Over a month ago, I was optimistic that President Obama would act decisively on Afghanistan. With each passing week, it grows more clear that I was wrong.White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel signalled today that no decision will be made any time soon on...
Ron Coleman