It’s amazing how little we hear about Afghanistan these days.
Now I find this tragic story about the mentally ill in the war torn country. Some are actually kept in chains. Devastating stuff.

The New York Times on Al Qaeda’s resurgence:
Al Qaeda’s comeback didn’t have to happen. And it must not be allowed to continue. The new Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan do not operate with the blessing of the Pakistani government. But Pakistan’s military dictator, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has not tried very hard to drive them out. In [...]

The question I asked on September 6 was Did We Just Lose?
Now right-wing pundit Tony Blankley essentially agrees with that headline and leads me to a question for which I have, unfortunately, a ready answer.
With little reporting, and almost without media or governmental comment, the United States has suffered a substantial defeat in the war [...]

A couple months after we invaded Iraq I was in a cafe in Paris talking politics. Guy I was talking to was a very pro-American French lawyer. He considered the US his second home. He got off a funny, self-deprecating line about the irrelevance of French reaction. “What difference does it make? We are a [...]

So the guy sets his house on fire and as his wife and kids are running around in circles, panicked, screaming, “what should we do, what should we do?” the man looks at his wife and says, “You figure it out. Do I have to do everything around this place?”
There are loud demands for Democrats [...]

I wake up to this heads-up from The Walrus Said:
Bigger than 9/11
This is the kind of attack Al-Qaeda is threatening against the US, warning all American Muslims to flee New York and Washington.
From an interview with Abu Dawood, the newly appointed commander of the al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan, by journalist Hamid Mir.
It is headlined:
Exclusive [...]

Bill Roggio at Fourth Rail, the indispensable blog on all matters involving the Afghanistan war has this:
The Pakistani government is living up to its commitments on the “Waziristan Accord,” and has emptied the prisons of Taliban and al-Qaeda who have been captured since the fall of 2001. The “Waziristan Accord” calls for the Pakistani government [...]

You really have to read this to see just exactly why we are losing ground and may have lost the entire war in Afghanistan:
U.S. military officials tell NBC News they had “high-level� Taliban fighters in their gunsights during a July reconnaissance flight but decided not to fire. The decision to pass on the target angered [...]

I tried to avoid commenting today. I really, really did. Because as sad as this day was five years ago those feelings do not exceed how angry I am now. I am not normally prone to anger. Most people would describe me as a mellow, happy go lucky, funny, thoughtful kind of guy. I have [...]

I’m going to impose on Justin’s kindness and do a self-serving pointer to post to this piece where I follow up on an earlier post: Did We Just Lose?
I’ve been a little surprised by the reach of the original post, and equally surprised by the responses. I think there is a fundamental [...]

I don’t think people are getting the seriousness of this.
In a move that some say appears ‘a total capitulation’ to pro-Taliban forces, Pakistan signed a peace deal with tribal leaders in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan Tuesday, and is withdrawing military forces in exchange for promises that militant tribal groups there will not engage [...]

We hear an abundance of speculation about just how much of the debate about Iraq and the war on terror is motivated by political objectives or by sincere beliefs. Many of those who support the President argue that he must be sincere since he holds steady in his beliefs that we must defeat the terrorists [...]

Bush and Blair call for a cease fire. Remember me writing about the possibility that at some point we’d have to play the role of the buddy who pulls you out of a bar fight and lets you save face? My guess is that’s what’s happening here. I suspect the Israelis, having waffled on dealing [...]

The private word from the people who are closest to these things is that Iraq is doing slightly better than most Americans think it is, and Afghanistanis in much more danger than most of us realize. Chances are you’ll be seeing more about it in the months to come, and it won’t be purple-fingered “good [...]

Here’s an excellent idea.

The Frontline Forum is an alternative channel for compelling stories from those now wearing boots and carrying rifles and not comments or those endlessly forwarded unattributed “true” stories that always seem airbrushed. This is a place for those deployed in harm’s way to tell real stories about the ground situation.
Our goal is [...]