In case you were curious. Numbers are in 2011 dollars.
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(H/T: Foolocracy)
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The Cost of War
July 29, 2010 By
Petraeus’ Wins “Worst Week” Award
June 26, 2010 By
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Chris Cilizza named Gen. David Petraeus as the recipient of the ‘Worst Week in Washington’ award. Here are the reasons he cites.
* Petraeus is already a bona fide war hero who now has to put his sterling reputation on the line in a war that many military strategists — including members of McChrystal’s inner circle — view as unwinnable.
* Petraeus moves from Tampa, Florida — home of U.S. Central Command — to Kabul, Afghanistan. ‘Nuff said.
* In some circles, Petraeus was regarded as Republicans’ strongest potential 2012 candidate against Obama. His new post effectively ends that speculation.
I could see the first two being downers but I can’t quite see why his new post would negate his running in 2012 if he so chooses. If it’s a timing issue, then he could surely spend the next six to 10 months implementing his Afghan strategy, then turn it over to some other military whiz kid and take a run in 2012. No?
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McChrystal Will Never Have A Fox Gig
June 25, 2010 By
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See? McChystral wasn’t all bad.
Even more about McChrystal: now it can be told. The story about him voting for Obama is not contrived. He is a political liberal. He is a social liberal. He banned Fox News from the television sets in his headquarters. Yes, really. This puts to rest another false rumor: that McChrystal deliberately precipitated his firing because he wants to run for President.
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Afghanistan – The Unfixable War
June 25, 2010 By
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The good news? Nobody has to pretend anymore that Gen. Stanley McChrystal knew how to fix Afghanistan within a year. The bad news? Now we’re supposed to pretend that Gen. David Petraeus does.
It’s no longer about winning this war. It’s about finding a way to exit without making it appear that it was lost. Just like Iraq.
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Petraeus’ Challenge
June 24, 2010 By
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Joe Klein on why progressives and the anti-war crowd are going to be seriously disappointed come next year.
It seems obvious that Obama is going to have to be less coy with the public about what is really going to happen in July 2011, even if that risks alienating his party’s vestigial antiwar base. He is going to have to make it clear that “significant” troop withdrawals — a word bandied about in recent weeks — are not in the cards unless the situation on the ground changes dramatically, for good or ill. And Petraeus is going to have to reconsider whether the crown jewel in his tiara — the counterinsurgency doctrine — is really feasible in Afghanistan and what strategic modifications will have to be made in order to leave the place in the most stable, humane fashion.
These adjustments should not be difficult; they simply require the good faith and respect from both sides that have been lost, as McChrystal’s crushing indelicacy so clearly demonstrated.
The thinking is that Afghanistan is not Iraq and what worked there (to some degree), the counterinsurgency strategy of funding specific factions, is not applicable to the Afghan war where battling foreign terrorists is not a major part of the problem. This godforsaken war is going to require a different tactic and it is now Petraeus’ task to divine such a strategy.
It appears more likely with each passing defeat that the eventual withdrawal from Afghanistan is going to take on a Vietnam feel to it. Declare victory no matter what the situation on the ground looks like and get the hell out of there.
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