Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- November 16, 2010

FULL HOUSE - U.S. Navy Seabees fill a C-17 in Kuwait to prepare for a flight to Kandahar, Afghanistan, Nov. 11, 2010. The Seabees are assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3, which is a warfighting element deployed to southern Afghanistan to provide construction and engineering support. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Petty Officer Jesse Sherwin

Attrition Warfare In Afghanistan, Financial Warfare In Washington -- Robert Haddick, Small Wars Journal

Few observers would compare the war in Afghanistan to the World War I Battle of Verdun. But it appears as if both Gen. David Petraeus and Mullah Mohammad Omar are explicitly using classic attrition warfare to compel a change in their adversary’s behavior. Similar to the Verdun “mincing machine,” each commander is hoping that unsustainable casualties, demoralization, or bankruptcy will force the other side into a settlement or withdrawal. For Omar, there is a direct line between his strategy and the budget crisis in Washington; he is counting on another financial crisis to help him win the war. A budget deal in Washington might do as much as air strikes and raids to convince the Taliban that their strategy won’t work.

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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials

The Newest Medal of Honor: The man who has earned it is the first from this war to live to see it. -- William McGurn, Wall Street Journal

Pakistan bombshell -- Arnaud de Borchgrave, UPI

The Plan to Terrorize Europe -- Bruce Riedel, The Daily Beast

Saif Al-Adel: The Next Khalid Sheikh Mohammed? -- Ryan Mauro, Pajamas Media

China's rise in the Middle East -- David Schenker and Christina Lin, L.A. Times

Soros: China has better functioning government than U.S. -- Joshua Keating, Foreign Policy

The Real Reset: Moscow Refights the Cold War -- Stephen Blank, World Affairs Journal

Defense Trims: Why Not? -- Eugene Robinson, Real Clear Politics

A First Intelligence Reform: Fire John Brennan -- G. Murphy Donovan, American Thinker

Europe Fears That Debt Crisis Is Ready to Spread -- Landon Thomas Jr. and James Kanter, New York Times

Why Isn't Peter Schiff Head of the Fed? -- Vasko Kohlmayer, American Thinker

The big disconnect: D.C. elites think Obama will be reelected, but the public doubts it -- Mark Penn, Politico