A few new and interesting tidbits on the decision process: (1) it was made quickly, in near-record time for the usually Hamlet-like Obama (2) Secretary of Defense Gates initially advised against it, because he believed that McChrystal was vital to … Continue reading →
Well, I’ve read the article that may be the undoing of General McChrystal’s military career, and perhaps even the Afghan war itself [I wrote that sentence before I saw the breaking news that McChrystal is gone and Petraeus has been … Continue reading →
Funny thing, isn’t it, how quickly McChrystal was summoned for a White House audience for his insubordination, whereas back when the president was mulling over the Afghanistan troop request, McChrystal could barely get a word with his commander-in-chief? The following … Continue reading →
General Stanley McChrystal, top guy in Afghanistan, was summoned to the White House with some splainin to do after an incendiary piece appeared in Rolling Stone in which the general and his aides criticized the US ambassador to Afghanistan, as … Continue reading →
Time was that, whatever one thought of Israeli IDF forces and the policies behind them, nearly everyone agreed that they were super-competent. In security and counter-terrorist operations in particular, they were skillful and tough, and feared by their enemies. Remember … Continue reading →
It’s Memorial Day. Time for picnics and get-togethers. Time, also, for remembrance of those who sacrificed their lives in American’s wars. This post by Gerard Vanderleun at American Digest offers a poignant poem in honor of a high school acquaintance … Continue reading →
Seems there’s a rash of military impostors, although this one certainly differs in kind and degree from the Blumenthal case: A Texas man with no military experience managed to trick the Army into letting him enter a reserve unit as … Continue reading →
Democratic senatorial candidate Richard Blumenthal has succumbed to an occupational hazard of boomer political candidates: alluding to some details of military service that turn out to be a lie. In Blumenthal’s case, his Vietnam-era stint was in a Washington DC … Continue reading →
The Lieberman proposal to strip terrorists who are Americans of citizenship rights has a great many critics. That is not surprising, since the idea appears at first glance to be a fairly radical one. Here’s a typical critique, taken from … Continue reading →
[NOTE: Yesterday and today represent the 30th anniversary of the Carter administration’s ill-fated Iranian hostage rescue attempt. Four years ago I wrote the following post about it. It feels appropriate for a variety of reasons—and not just the anniversary—to revisit … Continue reading →
There’s a new thrill on the roller coaster ride that is the Barack Obama presidency: “Obama limits when US would use nuclear arms” [emphasis mine in the following excerpt]: President Obama said Monday that he was revamping American nuclear strategy … Continue reading →
The buzz is that President Obama will finally announce his Afghanistan decision on December 1, and that the magic number of troops sent will be 34,000. If so (and I must emphasize that this information is based on anonymous leaks, … Continue reading →