Featured Articles — October 22, 2009

October 22, 2009 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under Featured Articles 

Interesting takes from home and abroad:

More Troops Are a Bad Bet By Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times
The United States was born of our ancestors’ nationalistic resentment of a foreign power whose troops we saw as occupiers, not protectors. The British never fathomed our basic grievance — this was our land, not theirs! — so the more they cracked down, the more they empowered the American insurgency.

Obama Goes Wobbly on Afghanistan By Karl Rove, The Wall Street Journal
The president can sustain bipartisan support for the war if he demonstrates his personal commitment.

The Hard Sell By Joshua Tucker and Patrick Egan, The New Republic
How Obama should play the politics of an Afghanistan troop surge.

The lucrative business of Obama-bashing By Bernd Debusmann, Reuters
Four days before Barack Obama was sworn into office, a prominent radio talk show host, Rush Limbaugh, told his conservative listeners that a major American publication had asked him to write 400 words on his hopes for the Obama presidency.

Why the White House Bullies Fox By Tucker Carlson, The Daily Beast
The Obama team isn’t at war with Fox because it’s conservative. They’re angry because Fox has embarrassed them. Tucker Carlson on the press corps’ shameful silence.

Pakistan Gets Serious By David Ignatius, The Washington Post
Until a few months ago, Pakistani officials often used the term “miscreants” when they described the Taliban fighters operating from the western tribal areas. This moniker conveyed the sense that the Taliban was a nuisance — a ragtag band of fanatics and gangsters who could be placated with peace deals — rather than a mortal threat to the nation.

There’s No Substitute for Troops on the Ground By Max Boot, The New York Times
“I HOPE people who say this war is unwinnable see stories like this. This is what winning in a counterinsurgency looks like.”

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