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Featured Articles — October 28, 2009

October 28, 2009 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under Featured Articles 

Interesting takes from home and abroad:

Obama Says No Rush on Afghanistan. There Should Be. By Iain Martin, The Wall Street Journal
It was the worst day for American forces in Afghanistan in four years yesterday, with 14 lives lost, all in helicopter crashes.

Don’t Build Up By Thomas Friedman, The New York Times
The U.S. does not have the Afghan partners, the allies, the domestic support or the financial resources to justify a nation-building effort in Afghanistan.

Democrats Divided Over Reid Proposal for Public Option By David Hersenzohrn and Robert Pear, The New York Times
Senate Democrats disagreed over a government insurance plan, suggesting that the decision by Harry Reid to include it in legislation had failed to unite his caucus.

‘Jobs Created or Saved’ Is White House Fantasy By Caroline Baum, Bloomberg
Heresy, thy name is Christina Romer.

Washington’s Suicide Mission By Holman Jenkins, The Wall Street Journal
The real problem is Washington’s riverboat gamble on saving the economy with free money.



Comments

One Response to “Featured Articles — October 28, 2009”

  1. Fred Laan on October 28th, 2009 2:44 pm

    Thomas Friedman:
    The U.S. does not have the Afghan partners, the allies, the domestic support or the financial resources to justify a nation-building effort in Afghanistan.
    - -
    People compare Afghanistan with Vietnam, but that is not based on facts.
    Vietnam was easier to solve than Afghanistan because since 1956 it was not a civil war anymore. South Vietnam became a loyal ally with 90 percent support of the population.
    Afghanistan is a civil war (the worst type of war) and support of the population is just under 50 percent.
    There are several good reasons to stay in Afghanistan, but there are more reasons to leave that country right now:
    1. Saving an ally like Pakistan is much more important than a dubious one like Afghanistan. Saving both is too much.
    2. Afghanistan will take may years and that is too expensive.
    3. Domestic support continues to decrease.
    4. It is difficult the control new conflicts with a war going on for years.
    5. There are other ways to handle the situation in Afghanistan. Iraq before the second Gulf War was an example.

    So use the industrial-military complex to improve solar energy and earn a lot of money with that. But don’t wait to long, because Europeans or Chinese won’t give a sporting advance.

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