Saturday, January 01, 2011

The Afghan War is a worry. I belive Bill Richardson should take the place of Richard Holbrooke, at least for the interim.

President Obama needs to be provided with a workable budget for the next two years.  The troops will begin to deploy out of Afghanistan in July of this year, however, we need to be sure there are monies in the Treasury to bring them home and not abandon them to being unwilling participants in an unfunded war.  In the remaining days of Speaker Pelosi's leadership, there needs to be 'Emergency Budget Legislation" that can be called up by the Senate should the 'unstable' and 'abusive' new Republican Majority become 'unable to act.'

Gen. David Petraeus replaced Gen. Stanley McChrystal as head of US forces in the Afghanistan war this year. One change he's made represents something of a gamble to some in the Pentagon

...Specifically, Petraeus has chosen to emphasize the violence that the Taliban and other insurgent groups have inflicted on the general Afghan population. This may seem like an obvious approach. Why not highlight the harm that your enemy is doing to the civilians you’re trying to win over?
But it’s not so simple, says a senior military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he has not been authorized to speak to the press on this issue. “If you draw attention to the enemies’ impact on Afghan civilians, does that make them feel less secure” – and consequently, less willing to support NATO forces?...