Taliban to hit outposts enmass
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Intelligence Field notes
( WE are THE top "War Intel" Blog.)
A Competitive Intelligence Service.
By Thomas P.M. Barnett
But if the administration doesn't go along with the recommendations of its handpicked commander (and there were signs this afternoon that it was leaning away from the McChrystal plan and back toward Biden's strategy), then it will have effectively repudiated McChrystal's command with a highly publicized vote of no confidence. By extension, the White House will have completed its marginalization of McChrystal's boss, General David Petraeus. Which, given that the Iraq surge hero and Central Command chief has been urged to run for president in 2012, may be politically hard to resist for Obama's politically savvy advisors. But, again, the political savvy is getting the best of Team Obama when it comes to Afghanistan — this is a war, not an election, with many more lives at stake than a few of the best and brightest, and they'd be stupid to muddle or confuse the two.
And yet Obama will almost certainly seek to split his Big Afghanistan Decision down the middle (Talk big but act small!). That won't work, and not just because the world's bad boys will think of the American military as a bunch of high-tech pansies — because it wreaks of Obama speak for permanent downshifting in our long-term commitment to Afghanistan's future, which, by extension, makes everybody nervous about Pakistan's future.
And so, by shorting Afghanistan, the president may end up inadvertently declaring The Obama Doctrine: (1) yes, Iraq was a one-of-a-kind war, never to be repeated; and (2), in Clinton-era Colin Powell speak honed for the counterterrorism era, we go anywhere we want to kill anyone we want, but as far as the locals are concerned, they can simply fuck off.
In doing so, Obama will position himself internationally as both a full-blown wimp (Jimmy Carter much?) and a sanctimonious cynic (hellooooo, Bill Clinton!), confirming French president Nicolas Sarkozy's first impression that under that fabulous exterior lies a fabile young president.
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Republican Senator John McCain disagrees, saying al Qaeda and the Taliban are one in the same.
"You can't separate the two. The Taliban is making gains. Al Qaeda will return if the Taliban takes over," he claims.
A hint from a top aide suggests how the president is leaning.
Most of those who attacked us on 9/11, the aide noted Tuesday, have moved out of Afghanistan. ( WTF? G )
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Special Dispatch No. 2590
Hizbullah-Affiliated Businessman's Ponzi Scheme Causes Upheaval in Lebanon
Hizbullah-affiliated Shi'ite Lebanese businessman Salah 'Izz Al-Din, suspected of running a $2 billion Ponzi scheme, was arrested in Lebanon in early September 2009 after declaring bankruptcy.(2)
Several days after the scandal hit the headlines, the Lebanese daily Al-Safir reported that thousands of Lebanese and other nationals had lost money in 'Izz Al-Din's scheme, and that the investigation was being closely monitored by Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, and prominent Lebanese Shi'ite leader Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadhlallah.(3) It was also reported that many senior Hizbullah officials had invested money with 'Izz Al-Din and suffered financial losses.(4) Fuad Al-Hashem, columnist for the Kuwaiti daily Al-Watan, claimed that the Hizbullah organization had likewise lost $683 million in investments with 'Izz Al-Din.(5)
In the aftermath of the scandal, numerous articles appeared in the Lebanese media criticizing Hizbullah and holding it responsible for the fraud, because of 'Izz Al-Din's affiliation with it. Hizbullah was blamed for encouraging the public to trust 'Izz Al-Din and to invest with him, and some even demanded that it compensate those who sustained losses.
To read excerpts from articles on the subject, visit http://www.memri.org/bin/
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WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- A strong majority of U.S. residents say it is important to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons, even if it means taking military action, a poll indicates.
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(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) today released the following statement after the Senate rejected Coburn amendments that would have forced Congress to shift earmark funds back toward vital operations and maintenance. By a vote of 25 to 73, the Senate rejected an amendment offered by Dr. Coburn that would have restored to the troops $165 million earmarked within the Defense appropriations bill’s maintenance and operations accounts for congressional earmarks.
“In a time of war it is unconscionable for members of Congress to divert funds from vital operations to less-than-vital parochial pork projects. I regret the Senate voted today to protect their pet projects at the expense of our troops,” Dr. Coburn said.
Gerald
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