Afghanistan: From the fat into the fire

This cartoon by [credit to him] Matson could not more accurately describe the quagmire the West is being ever drawn into in Afghanistan. Only today the Commander of US and allied forces in Afghanistan has given less than a wringing endorsement of how things are going in the war-torn country.

The LA Times reports:

"A top U.S. and allied commander set the stage for a recommendation to increase the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, calling Monday for an overhaul in strategy to help stem losses that began during the Bush administration and have accelerated in recent months.

In a brief statement about his internal report, released by the command in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal acknowledged that turning the war around would be difficult.

"The situation in Afghanistan is serious, but success is achievable and demands a revised implementation strategy, commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort," McChrystal said."

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Robert Fisk's predictions for the Middle East in 2013

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#1 Prize for a bizarre story.....and lying!

No comment called for in this piece from CommonDreams: Another young black man: The strange sad case of 21-year-old Chavis Carter. Police in Jonesboro, Arkansas stopped him and two friends, found some marijuana, searched put Carter, then put him handcuffed behind his back into their patrol car, where they say he shot himself in the head with a gun they failed to find. The FBI is investigating. Police Chief Michael Yates, who stands behind his officers' story, says in an interview that the death is "definitely bizarre and defies logic at first glance." You think?

Mahler's Prodigal Son

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