OK, now I'm ready to reconsider

Bird Dog's picture
Submitted by Bird Dog on Mon, 01/23/2012 - 3:20am

A phased drawdown in Afghanistan is looking like the right thing to do. In previous diaries, I wanted to give the counterinsurgency strategy a shot and I think enough time has elapsed. I agree with a drawdown of forces through 2014, with American forces trying to train as many Afghan troops as will be trained, and leaving a sufficient number to strike militant Islamists when there is sufficient actionable intelligence. Beyond that, it's up to Karzai and his government.

China round-up

Bird Dog's picture
Submitted by Bird Dog on Sun, 01/22/2012 - 4:06pm

The long, sad tale of Apple sending manufacturing jobs to China. The following is just a small part of why those jobs aren't on U.S. soil anymore.

SC Primary Open Thread

Submitted by HankP on Sat, 01/21/2012 - 5:02am

OK, here are my predictions:

 

Gingrich    38%

Romney    30%

              Santorum  15%

              Paul         14%

 

Let's hear yours, as well as what's going to happen in football on Sunday.

 

Worst. Job. Ever.

Submitted by Harley on Thu, 01/19/2012 - 3:07pm

Funny diary and thread over at Balloon Juice.  Basically?  What's the worst job you ever had?  The angle at BJ is that these are all the jobs Mitt Romney never suffered.  Which is less interesting to me than all the jobs folks have slogged through at one time or another.

 

I'll start:

 

Swather jockey for the Jolly Green Giant in Dayton, Washington. On the hippie night shift.

Why I Didn't Propose That The Forvm Go Dark Today

Submitted by HankP on Wed, 01/18/2012 - 1:04pm

Aside from the obvious reason that no one would notice.

Civil war in Syria, by definition

Bird Dog's picture
Submitted by Bird Dog on Mon, 01/16/2012 - 12:18am

At the Monkey Cage, Erica Chenoweth is making the call.

A sad commentary (updated)

Jay C's picture
Submitted by Jay C on Thu, 01/12/2012 - 2:09pm

On a number of levels....

 

h/t to Balloon Juice, from which I was directed to today's online New York Times: where I discovered this little gem:

 

From Arthur S. Brisbane, the Times' "Public Editor", which is described as the "readers' representative" and journalistic "monitor":

 

 

On a number of levels....

 

In Ron Paul's world,

Bird Dog's picture
Submitted by Bird Dog on Wed, 01/11/2012 - 1:41pm

the following departments would not exist: Energy, Education, Commerce, Health & Human Services, Homeland Security, FEMA, TSA, Interstate Commerce Commission, Internal Revenue Service. Poof. All gone.

In Ron Paul's world, most of the president's cabinet jobs are gone.

In Ron Paul's world, there is no Federal Reserve Bank, which means no Federal Reserve Board. The value of the American dollar is tied to the price of a commodity.

Wednesday Open Thread

Submitted by AndrewSshi on Wed, 01/11/2012 - 8:23am

Holy crud, it's already Wednesday.

 

[Tries to think of something to say.]

 

...

 

Consider this your open thread.

Westmoreland should've been third

Bird Dog's picture
Submitted by Bird Dog on Wed, 01/11/2012 - 2:01am

A while back, Tom Ricks came up with a list of the ten worst U.S. generals in American history. I won't argue his top two picks (Douglas MacArthur and Benedict Arnold), but General William Westmoreland should've been in the three slot. Why? Because his strategy led to tens of thousands of American deaths and the loss of a war.

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