Posts Tagged ‘Afghanistan’
News
Searching in Vain for the Obama Magic (Der Spiegel)
Starting out with “Never before has a speech by President Barack Obama felt as false as his Tuesday address announcing America’s new strategy for Afghanistan,” this editorial admit “nausea” upon hearing Obama’s speech. They even note the instructions to West Point cadets to respond “enthusiastically” that was obviously ignored.
Obama’s War of 1,000 Cuts
Yes, Afghanistan is now Obama’s War. It was his since inauguration but make no mistake, from last night’s speech, it is clearly his and we can no longer blame Bush for the mess. Obama has now created the recipe for his own disaster:
- First, the military asked for as much as 60,000 troops, Obama gives them half, and
- Second, while Obama says and repeats that his goal is “defined as disrupting, dismantling, and defeating al Qaeda and its extremist allies”, he spends more time Vietnamizing the war with talk of how he’s going to shift the effort (and responsibility of achieving his goal) to the Karzai’s hapless and corrupt government. As he clearly states “these additionalAmerican and international troops will allow us to accelerate handing over responsibility to Afghan forces, and allow us to begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011.”
What does this mean?
News
Afghans Detail a Secret Prison Still Operating on a U.S. Base (New York Times)
According to this article, Obama continues to run at least two secret prisons – one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan – with reports of abuse and prisoners held without rights normally afforded prisons of war. Surprising to hear that this continued after Bush left office. This is a terrible stain on America’s reputation and puts Americans at risk of similar mistreatment if captured.