Two Must Read Commentaries On Afghanistan

U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons conduct operations over eastern Afghanistan, Nov. 26, 2009. The aircraft crews are assigned to the 79th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron on Bagram Airfield. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Michael B. Keller

Fighting For The Dry, Mountainous Nothing In The Middle Of Nowhere -- Strategy Page

December 15, 2009: American commanders believe the 30,000 additional U.S. troops, plus increases in Afghan and NATO forces, will enable the Taliban to be crushed within a year. But after that, Afghanistan will require economic and military assistance for at least twenty years, to bring sustained peace to the country. The plan is to turn over security to the central government within five years. Initially, through the middle of next year, there will be more violence. The Taliban and drug gangs will not go gently into the night. They will resist energetically, many choosing to fight to the death.

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A Stryker vehicle operated by U.S. soldiers sits on top of a hill overlooking Rajankala in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, Nov. 28, 2009. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Francisco V. Govea II

Obama Commits More Troops To Afghanistan, With The Wrong Strategy -- War Is Boring

BARAKI BARAK, Afghanistan — The soldiers from Able Troop knew the attack was coming. Not only had they received several ominous warnings from some sympathetic local farmers in this agricultural district 50 miles south of Kabul, in mountainous central Afghanistan — they could also feel it in their bones. Some Afghan towns, on some nights, practically seethe with potential violence. Oct. 21 was such a night.

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