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CNSNews.com Headlines: Newspaper Roundup for Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The Note: The Note's Must-Reads for Wednesday, October 28, 2009
BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash: Obama cannot answer a political question with a military response
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Obama advisers support never ending war in Afghanistan. http://bit.ly/1aW4W7 10/28/2009 |
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Workig on a piece on this RT @mattyglesias: This seems 2 repeat Ussr strategy in Afgh (not necessarily a bad idea): http://bit.ly/4ftBAH 10/28/2009 |
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This seems to be a repeat of Soviet strategy in Afghanistan (not necessarily a bad idea): http://bit.ly/4ftBAH 10/28/2009 |
Newspaper Roundup for Wednesday, October 28, 2009
CNSNews.com Headlines —
... Legal scholars divided over Congress' authority New York Times: Obama's strategy: U.S. to Protect Populous Afghan Areas, Officials Say Will stop short of all-out assault on Taliban Washington Times: ...
The Note's Must-Reads for Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The Note —
... Schouten: "'You lie!' outburst boosts S.C. candidates' funds" LINK
AFGHANISTAN:
ABC News’ Luis Martinez: “October Deadliest Month for U.S. Troops in Afghanistan” LINK
ABC News’ Martha Raddatz, Huma Khan, and John Parkinson: “Matthew Hoh, a Senior Civilian Official in Afghanistan, Resigns Over U.S. Strategy” LINK
The New York Times’ Thom Shanker, Peter Baker and Helene Cooper: “U.S. to Protect Populous Afghan Areas, Officials Say” LINK
The New York Times’ Dexter Filkins, Mark Mazzetti and Hames Risen: “Brother of Afghan Leader ...
Obama cannot answer a political question with a military response
BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash —
... So naturally a military escalation is just what we need in Afghanistan. Reports the Times this morning: while "other options" remain available to Obama, "the debate," according to administration officials, "is no longer over whether to send more troops, but how many more will be needed." ...
GEORGE: Afghan Decision Consensus Coming Into View
ABC News: Politics —
Previous | Main Afghan Decision Consensus Coming Into View October 28, 2009 7:45 AM Team NY Times has a well-reported story about the Situation Room deliberations on Afghanistan. My own sources tell me that it’s just plain wrong to conclude that President Obama is even close to a final decision on how many troops would be sent how quickly, but there is an emerging consensus on 5 key points: - No US troop withdrawal - New forces will focus on protecting key population centers, especially Kabul and Kandahar. - Efforts to build up Afghan Army and government will accelerate. - So will attempts to turn less radical Taliban and ...
The CIA Is In Afghanistan
JustOneMinute —
Here we go with another leak seemingly intended to undermine the notion that the US can succeed in Afghanistan: KABUL, Afghanistan — Ahmed Wali Karzai , the brother of the Afghan president and a suspected player in the country’s booming illegal opium trade, gets regular payments from the Central Intelligence Agency , and has for much of the past eight years, according to current and former American officials. The agency pays Mr. Karzai for a variety of services, including helping to recruit an Afghan paramilitary force that operates at the C.I.A.’s direction in and around the southern city of Kandahar, Mr. ...
Afghan Strategy Begins to Take Shape
The Page by Mark Halperin —
Getty Gray Lady reports Obama's new focus will be on protecting 10 key population centers.
Hard Counts: There’s a big ‘I’ in ‘Win’ as Reid shops for votes
The Note —
... Per The New York Times: "President Obama's advisers are focusing on a strategy for Afghanistan aimed at protecting about 10 top population centers, administration officials said Tuesday, describing an approach that would stop short of an all-out assault on the Taliban while still seeking to nurture long-term stability." ...
The Early Word: War Moves
The Caucus —
President Obama is a day closer to wrapping up deliberations over how to proceed with the war in Afghanistan, now in its ninth year, and is expected to announce his decision “soon,” according to Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary. In the afternoon, Mr. Obama will meet with Vice President Joseph R, Biden Jr. and Robert M. Gates, the Defense secretary, in the Oval Office. The Times’s Thom Shanker, Peter Baker and Helene Cooper wrote that the president is piecing together a strategy that would concentrate American and NATO forces in Afghanistan’s most populous areas , ...
ThinkFast: October 28, 2009
Think Progress —
A USA Today analysis finds that the stimulus is working and is having “a significant impact on the economy.” A survey of 33 states and Puerto Rico found that 338,000 jobs have been created or saved so far this year.
$1.25 million: Amount former Alaska governor Sarah Palin received as a retainer for her book “Going Rogue,” which will be out on Nov. 17.
“The deaths today of eight more American troops in Afghanistan have made October the deadliest month ever for U.S. forces in what is already the deadliest year for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the war ...
New Afghan Plan: "McChrystal for the City, Biden for the Country"?
The New Republic blogs —
Per some informed leaking to the NYT , it seems where Obama is headed. The critical question is whether you can be "Biden" in the countryside--i.e., conduct counterterrorism operations in low-population areas--without the substantial troop presence that gives you the human intelligence generally needed to strike furtive terrorists. If I'm Obama, the other thing I worry about is the intangible effect of Taliban gains in the countryside. Robert Gates, among others, has ...
Rush ‘n Attack
Matthew Yglesias —
... You probably won’t see anyone describe it in these terms, but the proposal for a city-focused campaign in Afghanistan reported by Thom Shanker, Peter Baker, and Helene Cooper in the New York Times strikes me as mighty similar to what the U.S.S.R. eventually settled into in Afghanistan: ...
Obama to Split the Afghan Baby
Weekly Standard Blog —
The New York Times reports that President Obama plans to amalgamate General McChrystal's COIN strategy with General Biden's (snark) counter-terrorism strategy, focusing on protecting cities instead of villages and towns.
President Obama’s advisers are focusing on a strategy for Afghanistan aimed at protecting about 10 top population centers, administration officials said Tuesday, describing an approach that would stop short of an all-out assault on the Taliban while still seeking to nurture long-term stability.
Mr. Obama has yet to make a decision and has other options available to him, but as officials ...
Alas Afghanistan
At-Largely —
Posted by Jeff Huber The New York Times tells us that Obama’s advisers are curling themselves around a strategy that will protect “about 10 population centers” in Afghanistan. The debate is no longer over whether to send more troops but over how many more to send. Obama hasn’t made his mind up yet, the Times reports, but the story is a sanctioned leak, so you know he’s pretty close to a decision. This is a propaganda technique known as “desensitizing.” By the time official word comes down the pike, we’ll already be used to the idea and will have moved on to caring about ...
Obama’s new Afghanistan strategy: Protect the cities and cede the countryside to the Taliban
Hot Air » Top Picks —
Obama’s new Afghanistan strategy: Protect the cities and cede the countryside to the Taliban posted at 9:17 pm on October 28, 2009 by Allahpundit Share on Facebook | printer-friendly This makes perfect sense to me — as a political strategy. Militarily, it sounds like they’re creating another Lebanon , where Hezbollah dominates the south of the country but by and large leaves Beirut alone (aside from the occasional advance to remind the government who’s boss). If you think having U.S. drones in the sky over Taliban-controlled areas will keep Al Qaeda out — which hasn’t happened in the Pakistani tribal areas, although I guess hope ...
U.S. to Protect Populous Afghan Areas, Officials Say
Democratic Underground Latest Breaking News —
Source: NY Times WASHINGTON President Obamas advisers are focusing on a strategy for Afghanistan aimed at protecting about 10 top population centers, administration officials said Tuesday, describing an approach that would stop short of an all-out assault on the Taliban while still seeking to nurture long-term stability. *** In effect, the approach blends ideas advanced by General McChrystal and by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., seen as opposite poles in the internal debate. General McChrystal has sought at least 40,000 more troops for a counterinsurgency strategy to protect Afghan civilians so they will support the central government. Mr. ...
Alas Afghanistan
Antiwar.com Original —
The New York Times tells us that Obama’s advisers are curling themselves around a strategy that will protect "about 10 population centers" in Afghanistan. The debate is no longer over whether to send more troops but over how many more to send. Obama hasn’t made his mind up yet, the Times reports, but the story is a sanctioned leak, so you know he’s pretty close to a decision. This is a propaganda technique known as "desensitizing." By the time official word comes down the pike, we’ll already be used to the idea and will have moved on to caring about something else. The ...
The "City Mouse, Country Mouse" Strategy -- By: Rich Lowry
The Corner on National Review Online —
We noted in The Corner yesterday this extraordinary New York Times story suggesting the Obama administration is considering blending the McChrystal and Biden strategies--counter-insurgency in population centers, counter-terrorism outside of it. I've talked to a couple of McChrystal supporters who aren't as alarmed by this report as you might think. They believe it either reflects the account of White House officials who don't fully understand the McChrystal strategy (which does include an element of pulling back from the more remote areas), or pre-emptive spin to try to salvage something publicly for Biden when the internal debate is ...
Round two (part two)
Mudville Gazette —
(Part one here)
*****
As the scheduled November 7 second round election date draws near, last minute efforts to replace the Karzai government in Afghanistan are moving into high gear.
From London: Dr Abdullah Abdullah is meeting his main allies in Kabul today and tomorrow to discuss his options after failing to strike a power-sharing deal with Mr Karzai in talks this week, according to sources in both camps and Western officials.
They said that it seemed increasingly unlikely that Dr Abdullah would stand in the run-off, because his staff ...
Tomgram: Afghanistan as a Bailout State
TomDispatch —
[Note for TomDispatch Readers: Last week, at an event in Santa Fe sponsored by the Lannan Foundation, I interviewed TomDispatch regular Rebecca Solnit. You can catch the audio by clicking here. The event was, in part, in honor of her superb new book, A Paradise Built in Hell, a tiny version of which can be found in her most recent TomDispatch post. Of course, I also have a special fondness for her earlier book Hope in the Dark, developed from the first piece she ever wrote for TD and which, as I said in my Lannan introduction, changed the way I look at the world. (No small thing for a guy my ...
Too Big to Fail?
Antiwar.com Original —
In the worst of times, my father always used to say, “A good gambler cuts his losses.” It’s a formulation imprinted on my brain forever. That no-nonsense piece of advice still seems reasonable to me, but it doesn’t apply to American war policy. Our leaders evidently never saw a war to which the word “more” didn’t apply. Hence the Afghan War, where impending disaster is just an invitation to fuel the flames of an already roaring fire. Here’s a partial rundown of news from that devolving conflict: In the last week, Nuristan, a province on the Pakistani border, essentially fell ...
Too Big to Fail? Why All the President's Afghan Options Are Bad Ones
Commondreams.org Views —
In the worst of times, my father always used to say, "A good gambler cuts his losses." It's a formulation imprinted on my brain forever. That no-nonsense piece of advice still seems reasonable to me, but it doesn't apply to American war policy. Our leaders evidently never saw a war to which the word "more" didn't apply. Hence the Afghan War, where impending disaster is just an invitation to fuel the flames of an already roaring fire. Here's a partial rundown of news from that devolving conflict: In the last week, Nuristan, a province on the Pakistani border, essentially fell ...
