President Obama laid out his strategy for Afghanistan last night, one that involves adding more troops and a time line for withdrawal based on the theory of leaving behind an strong Afghan government and an Afghan people willing and able to take care of themselves.
Obama proposes that this strategy can be accomplished in 18 months [...]

Worldview Item of the Day

So, the fundamentalist Muslims who control the southern portion of Somalia are threatening to attack the home base city of the pirates who hijacked the Sirius Star, an Arab oil tanker carrying an estimated $100 million in crude oil.

The fundamentalists, called the Shebab (or Shebaab or Shabaab) and a reincarnation of the Islamic Courts Union defeated in late 2006 by an incursion of the Ethiopian army, claim that their beliefs require them to do something about the pirates since piracy is a capital crime in the Koran. Yet, one has to wonder why the Shabab has turned a blind eye on the piracy rampant on Somalia’s coast until it was suddenly worth $100 million dollars. [...]

Regardless of who wins the White House on 4 November, regardless of whom we inaugurate 20 January 2009, that person will still inherit a nation at war. Even though the news and the campaigns largely choose to ignore the fact that more than 200,000 members of our all-volunteer fighting force are in harm’s way, we will still inaugurate a wartime president. Whether the winner of the election believes in the notion of winning or withdrawing, he will still be forced to deal with the harsh realities of deployments and fighting and dying because we are a nation at war. [...]

[...] Hamid’s story is the story of our enemy–the enemy of the West and anyone who loves liberty. We would all do well to pay attention. [...]

Benazir Bhutto was hardly a saint, but she was likely the best chance for the return of some semblance of democracy and a true hard line against the Fundamentalist Muslims that threaten to overwhelm her country.