Article published in Amauta with special permission from the author A shorter version of this article originally appeared at Consortium News by Ray McGovern Nothing highlights President Obama’s abject surrender to Gen. David Petraeus on the “way forward” in Afghanistan than two cables U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry sent to Washington on Nov. 6 and 9, 2009, the texts [...]

Source: TomDispatch by Tom Engelhardt December 3, 2009 Let others deal with the details of President Obama’s Afghan speech, with the on-ramps and off-ramps, those 30,000 U.S. troops going in and just where they will be deployed, the benchmarks for what’s called “good governance” in Afghanistan, the corruption of the Karzai regime, the viability of counterinsurgency warfare, the [...]

versión en español abajo Tough Guys Don’t Need to Dance in Afghanistan by William J. Astore October 11, 2009 It’s early in 1965, and President Lyndon B. Johnson faces a critical decision. Should he escalate in Vietnam? Should he say “yes” to the request from U.S. commanders for more troops? Or should he change strategy, downsize the American commitment, [...]