Congressman McDermott’s floor speech reminds us that out-of-control Afghanistan spending brought down the Soviet Union.
Afghanistan Bleeding U.S. Financially Even More Than It Did the Soviet Union
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Afghanistan
Reduce Corruption, Defeat the Taliban
The possibility of a negotiated settlement for the 10-year war in Afghanistan finally gained some traction when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a political surge in February. Since then President Obama and other prominent officials have refuted the notion that the conflict can be resolved by military means alone. The goal is to create political solutions led and agreed upon by the Afghan government and the insurgency, and acknowledged by major regional players including Pakistan.
With Surgical Implantation, Jihadists Take Suicide Bombing to New Heights
Perhaps it’s time we sympathized with what drives suicide bombers.
As Taliban Tactics Grow More Sophisticated, Why Does It Still Use Suicide Bombers?
If the Taliban wishes to be taken more seriously, it needs to outgrow suicide bombing.
Obama’s Noble Sentiments About Afghanistan Undermined by Meager Drawdown
The dissonance between the sentiments President Obama expressed in his Afghanistan speech and his plans begs the question of how much control he has over his own foreign policy.
As Cause for Hope in Afghanistan, “Light at the End of the Tunnel” Has Lost Its Luster
Even if we reach the end of the tunnel of one war, there will be a tunnel to a new war awaiting us. Russ Wellen at the Foreign Policy in Focus blog Focal Points.
Afghanistan: Going through Withdrawal
When Barack Obama ordered an additional 30,000 troops into Afghanistan in 2009, he further stipulated that a withdrawal begin in July 2011 and continue until completion by 2014. As promised, the first drawdown of the 100,000-strong force is scheduled to take place next month. This withdrawal comes at a peak of anti-war sentiment.
“Blasted and Blasted and Blasted”: The Military Traumatic Brain Injury Epidemic
The United States is not facing up to the massive health-care and mental-health problems caused by traumatic brain injuries in our recent wars.
Has the Rendition Program Disappeared?
The day after Barack Obama took office, he signed a series of executive orders mandating the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as well as the global network of secret, CIA-run “black site” prisons. In addition, he committed the United States to observe the Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture. More than two years later, the Obama administration has not followed through on most of these promises, even reversing several commitments.
Webb’s Parting Shots
To get elected to the Senate, you have to meet certain requirements. You have to be at least 30 years old, a U.S. citizen for nine years, and a resident of the state you represent. Based on Jim Webb’s recent performance, I would like to propose a fourth requirement: you have to be a novelist. If we had 100 novelists in the Senate, the body might finally be able, like Webb, to distinguish fact from fiction.