ABC News
10/13/09
Among three different troop options currently before the President and his national security team, General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, as first reported here, favors the middle option, which recommends an increase of some 40,000 more troops. A source familiar with the document says that’s the minimum McChrystal believes is needed for a chance for success in Afghanistan. Although the debate is really about the middle option, there is a much higher number included in the McChrystal options. Other sources who have seen the request say the highest number of troops requested is 80,000...
http://tinyurl.com/yhv4hmc
Backdoor escalation
AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo
10/14/09
If the Nobel committee was attempting to preemptively block a further escalation of the Afghan war by giving the prize in anticipation of future actions — actions they hoped would be motivated by a desire to live up to the award — they were too late, and their efforts too little. Because Obama — in addition to the 21,000 combat troops he has already announced he’s sending to the Afghan front — has quietly added 13,000 more ’support’ troops to the mix, and there are plenty more where that came from. For an administration in which virtually every public announcement and initiative involves a careful manipulation of language, this kind of craftiness is a key tool in keeping the public hazy about what exactly is going on in Afghanistan...
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/10/13/backdoor-escalation/
Pity the imperialists
Campaign For Liberty
by Jacob G. Hornberger
10/13/09
Pity the imperialists. What do they do? They must realize that the longer they continue occupying Iraq and Afghanistan, the more they weaken the Empire. Hey, they don’t call Afghanistan the ‘graveyard of empires’ for nothing. America’s imperialists are discovering what imperialists throughout history have discovered: empires are costly. This one is no exception. Military spending on Afghanistan and Iraq and the rest of the Empire all over the world continues to soar out of control...
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=268
Stalemate
The New Republic
by AJ Rossmiller
10/13/09
The situation in Afghanistan increasingly looks like Iraq did not too long ago. Not the actual political or military circumstances, of course, but the analysis and commentary. Phrases like ‘We’re entering a decisive period’ and ‘It’s now or never’ are being tossed around ominously as the debate over troop increases rages. One can hardly read an op-ed without being told that the situation is dire and that this is a critical time, perhaps even our Last Chance to Get It Right. Most notably, the report produced by General Stanley McChrystal announced that ‘the short-term fight will be decisive.’ There is not a single Afghanistan myth more prevalent or more specious than this one. To be at a ‘critical juncture’ implies that one side or the other is poised to decisively gain the upper hand and therefore to win. But the situation in Afghanistan is almost the exact opposite of that...
http://www.tnr.com/article/world/stalemate
Obama fails to win Nobel prize in economics
MarketWatch
by Tom Bemis
10/12/09
In a decision as shocking as Friday’s surprise peace prize win, President Obama failed to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences Monday. While few observers think Obama has done anything for world peace in the nearly nine months he’s been in office, the same clearly can’t be said for economics. The president has worked tirelessly since even before his inauguration to wrest control of the U.S. economy from failed free markets, and the evil CEOs who profit from them, and to turn it over to wise, fair and benevolent bureaucrats... [satire]
http://tinyurl.com/yjx3qg7
The Prince of Peace
Strike the Root
by B.R. Merrick
10/13/09
What is clear to me is that we mustn’t wait for prizes. We must walk away from these people, and throw their trophies in the trash. The only way to effectively bring about a revolution for the betterment of mankind is to reach the individual. The message is simple: You are freedom. You are peace. You are love. You are truth. You mustn’t wait for anyone else. You mustn’t be afraid. You mustn’t worry that mass murderers are continually lauded as bringers of peace. It will continue. But we needn’t continue along with it. They’ve set the table, but what they’re serving is rancid leftovers. Walk away. It will feel better when you do it in your own way, not the way some charismatic leader tells you to. If you are willing, you are The Prince of Peace’...
http://www.strike-the-root.com/92/merrick/merrick4.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Nobel+laureate
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=McChrystal
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=imperial
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=empire
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=military+spending
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=U.S.+Economy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=raimondo
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jacob+G.+Hornberger
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=B.R.+Merrick
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=AJ+Rossmiller