Gentle Readers, with Rick Santorum’s departure from the GOP race, Republicans are beginning to coalesce around Mitt Romney. And President Obama’s campaign has set its targets on him as well: Can we say ‘set its targets’? Well we did anyway … Continue reading →
Your Mandarin was watching the new mini-series Vietnam in HD on the History Channel last night. In addition, your Mandarin has also been watching the series Nazi Collaborators on the Military Channel. During both programs there was a commercial for … Continue reading →
With the 10th anniversary of the War in Afghanistan upon us, you have already started to see a lot of media hand-wringing introspection on whether the war was worth it, whether we should remain in Afghanistan, and what the historical … Continue reading →
This AFP piece by Dan De Luce caught our eye this evening, and there is something positively off-putting about it. “Commanders say Obama overruled them on Afghanistan.” Well, not quite. The article says that GNL David Petraeus—a commander (singular)—and ADM … Continue reading →
CNN writes today about the difficulty caused by Afghanistan’s reliance on opium as a cash crop. Afghani opium production isn’t a problem for the United States, it’s an opportunity. Here’s how. The Taliban runs on opium profits, extorted from local … Continue reading →
One important factor the Czar omits in the excellent post above is that since Partition, almost all attempts to forge a pan-Pakistani identity have focused on the common denominator of religion: the large majority of Pakistanis are Muslim, and the … Continue reading →
The New York Times reports that Afghani President Hamid Karzai strongly suggested that NATO and America cease military operations and get out. The Czar says “suggested” only because President Karzai later clarified his comments to mean that he respectfully requests … Continue reading →
You know Confucius takes issues of war, peace, strategy, diplomacy, and so forth seriously. Maybe a little too seriously. Defeats and bad press for the U.S. depress him mightily. Still. He can’t stop laughing at this. We’ve apparently be negotiating … Continue reading →
So how close is President Obama to President Jimmy Carter in terms of public perception? Although there are many superficial similarities, many on the Right are attempting to align the two men in order to promote the idea that a … Continue reading →
Congratulations, you bastards. I hope their families prosecute bloodfeuds against you. Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu. 3.14.242.153
Continue reading →The parallelism, excellent! We’ll pull out of Iraq, soon and responsibly (is there any other way?); also, we’ll close our eyes and click our heels together three times and wish upon a star over and over again until Israelis and … Continue reading →
One hates to welcome a really smart and well-written blog with a cavil, but, alas, one must. First: Bad Rachel seems like it’ll be totally worth adding to your blog roll. A couple more posts like her first, and she’ll … Continue reading →
Writes old hand Edward Djerejian: First, there was the overthrow of the shah of Iran by the Ayatollah Khomeini. Second, there was the takeover of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, by a group of Islamic extremists. And third, … Continue reading →
We’ve spent most of the past several years listening to liberals nattering away about how first Iraq and now Afghanistan is the new Vietnam. But finally, those making such arguments in the hope of undermining our efforts to resist the … Continue reading →
Царь наш, your Volgi didn’t watch it, being consumed with analyzing the numerological-astrological-cosmological significance of a six-pointed Oriental fortress. However, what leaps out is the President’s implying that we’re going to try and be out of there in eighteen months … Continue reading →
Apologizing for the Commander-in-Chief’s apparent lack of ability to command, the Washington Post wants you to know that Gen. Stanley McChrystal is not Douglas MacArthur—actually, he loves the fact that the President is taking his time with American lives. Acknowledging … Continue reading →
The New York Times, in its struggling effort to stay non-trivial, posts an editorial today on Zbigniew Brzezinski, the latter commenting on what the Obama administration should do about Afghanistan. For those of you who do not recognize the name—and … Continue reading →
The Czar is prompted to reply to his own post in order to respond to various emails, comments, and so on at once. 1. “Do you really believe war with Iran is inevitable?” By no means. The Czar would not … Continue reading →
Despite the impressive but oddly emphatic promise to increase military presence in Afghanistan, CinC Obama is now holding off on sending additional troops at what Gen. Stanley McChrystal considers a critical moment. No doubt the President is going to base … Continue reading →
Ha‘aretz is reporting some encouraging news, in that a senior US official believes an unspecified number of Arab states have agreed to make overtures to Israel, perhaps as a prelude to normalizing relations with Israel. Presently, only two Arab countries … Continue reading →
Maybe not all, but there seems to be enough anecdotal evidence to warrant some sort of investigation or regularization of their status relative to the Armed Forces. Doubtless there are some bad guys in there, but for those who aren’t? … Continue reading →
Wow. In addition to having a website, the Taliban now have a playbook, laying down rules for their military code of conduct. Curiously, it reads very much like an American guide to military operations in civilian populations: be polite, do … Continue reading →
Good news on the Kyrgyz front. We made a deal on Manas. Tripled the rent, so that‘s a nice benny for the Kyrgyzstan honchos. Seriously, though, good news in that it’s a significant bit of assistance to logistically supporting our … Continue reading →
PR trumps war-fighting? Hearts and minds are very important, but killing the enemy is more important. Plus, you make this call, and immediately every Taliban stronghold will be surrounded by a ring of hostages. They’ll strap babies to their chests … Continue reading →
While heartily endorsing the Czar’s point here that technocratic methods lose wars, your Volgi will respectfully disagree with the Czar’s account of the Vietnam War, in that his readings seem to indicate that not only was the war winnable—Gen. Creighton … Continue reading →
In reading over POTUS Obama’s plan for Afghanistan, the Czar was disturbed by this quote: But the plan also for the first time sets benchmarks—or, as the president preferred to call them, “metrics”—for US involvement in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, … Continue reading →
To add to GorT’s point, it should be remembered that Iran has long considered Afghanistan within its sphere of influence and continues to make trouble there. Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu. 3.14.242.153
Continue reading →Bloomberg reports that POTUS Obama wishes to redefine the US efforts in Afghanistan. Of interest to the Czar is the President’s concern about the needs of the poppy growers. “You know, what are we doing to replace poppy crops for … Continue reading →
Your Œcumenical Volgi runs hot and cold on Ralph Peters, who is often brilliant, and often seems a tad off his rocker. Here, however, he’s in fine form on Afghanistan. Your Volgi shares his skepticism that Afghanistan, never much of … Continue reading →
…Mark Helprin fires off another jeremiad on America’s neglect of her own defenses and her political class’s incompetence in prosecuting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu. 3.14.242.153
Continue reading →Check out this story from of all places the Washington Post. It is easy to forget our troops and the incredible deeds they do each day to protect us and our freedom. It reads like the script of a Hollywood … Continue reading →
Shocking. Reports of the ISI’s aiding the Taliban are nothing new Uh, yeah, considering they were the Taliban’s primary foreign backers since before the Russians left. Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu. 3.14.242.153
Continue reading →SWJ has an excellent post today tying together the long WaPo piece on Russia and the car-bombing in South Ossetia. The Volgi has been thinking about the car-bombing for a while, and although he hopes it doesn’t come to such … Continue reading →
So Fred Kaplan here (via Shmuel Rosner) is saying that there’s no sign of the necessary preconditions for a Pashtun Awakening or the like that would allow an Afghanistan surge to succeed. I find this curious, because just last night … Continue reading →
Yep, according to Harper. Of course, was he lying then or is he lying now? Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu. 3.14.242.153
Continue reading →We all know that. But here’s exhibit #57,431. As they’re making all sorts of handwringing, weepy, soldiers-are-victims, the-U.S.-government-is-evil, war-is-always-wrong paens to their own superiority, and flushing millions of dollars down the toilet in the process, there are stories like this … Continue reading →
