Obama's Dilemma: Prison Corruption a Symptom of How Sick We Are in Afghanistan

William Fisher, 11.14.2009

Formerly served State Department and Agency for International Development

Amid the near-constant speculation over President Barack Obama's strategy for Afghanistan, there appears to be virtually universal consensus that root...

Friday Talking Points [101] -- Count Me With The Misfits

Chris Weigant, 11.15.2009

Author, Political Commentator, and Blogger (ChrisWeigant.com)

Whether or not Harry Reid ever gets his act together, the achievement of Nancy Pelosi getting healthcare reform legislation should stand on its own as an admirable political achievement.

What Obama Wants in Afghanistan -- and What Women Need

Anushay Hossain, 11.13.2009

Founder and Editor, Anushay's Point

As the administration ponders the very real possibility of becoming the newest addition to the "graveyard of empires", there is one aspect of Afghan society everyone seems to have forgotten: the women.

"War Kills Off Great Reform Movements"

Steve Cobble, 11.13.2009

Steve Cobble is a co-founder of afterdowningstreet.org, an antiwar activist, and a political strategist.

Mr. President: As you consider whether to march further into the trap of Afghanistan, please don't forget the memorable phrase that E. J. Dionne rece...

Bush Oil Buddies Divvy Up Iraqi Oil, Now Joined By "Liberal Scion" Peter Galbraith

Jackson Williams, 11.14.2009

Austin-based writer

Peter Galbraith, son of the famed economist, is in line to reap $100 million dollars -- maybe more -- from contracts between a Norwegian oil company and the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq.

Our Corrupt Occupation of Afghanistan

Robert Naiman, 11.13.2009

Policy Director of Just Foreign Policy

Is it just me, or is the pontification of Western leaders about corruption in Afghanistan growing rather tiresome? There is something very Captain R...

Pentagon Funds Taliban Who Are Killing US Troops

Bruce Wilson, 11.12.2009

Writes on religion and politics

We're paying to send American troops to Afghanistan and we're also paying Afghans insurgents who will see to it that those troops come back in caskets: a crazed, pointless machinery of death.

A Real Team of Rivals

Malou Innocent, 11.12.2009

Foreign Policy Analyst at the Cato Institute

Obama's hesitancy in Afghanistan is an implicit recognition that the United States might not succeed in laying a centrally administered facade onto Afghanistan's preexisting society.

Brothers Was the Best Film I Saw in 2005; Will the American Remake Be as Powerful?

Jesse Kornbluth, 11.12.2009

Editor of HeadButler.com

No knock on the American remake, but I'd get my hands on a DVD of Susanne Bier's movie, set in Denmark, first. It will hurt you to watch it. But I promise you: It's all good. Indeed, it's the best.

President Obama's War Movie

Anthony Swofford, 11.12.2009

Oren Moverman's directorial debut, The Messenger, is the first war movie of the Obama era. The movie is infused with an intellectualness and inclusiveness that would make our president proud.

Isolated Incident

Robert Koehler, 11.12.2009

Syndicated writer, editor at Tribune Media Services

Moving forward from the latest massacre, three narratives -- well, one of them is no more than the familiar, all-purpose shrug of experts, puzzled ove...

Mr. President: LBJ's Fail Is Your Afghan Model

Steve Cobble, 11.12.2009

Steve Cobble is a co-founder of afterdowningstreet.org, an antiwar activist, and a political strategist.

Mr. President: The failure of Lyndon B. Johnson's Administration due to Vietnam is your model here. And you're smart enough to understand what that ...

A Hundred Cities Against Escalation As the President Announces It

Robert Naiman, 11.12.2009

Policy Director of Just Foreign Policy

Recent press speculation suggests at least even odds that sometime in November, President Obama will give a speech announcing that he intends to send ...

The War Stampede

Norman Solomon, 11.12.2009

Norman Solomon is the author of a dozen books including "War Made Easy."

After 30 years of war, Afghans do not need more ingenious war efforts by the latest batch of best and brightest in Washington.

Understanding the Traumas of War

Robert D. Stolorow, 11.12.2009

Author of "Trauma and Human Existence"

Here is a letter I received from Dr. Russell Carr, a military psychiatrist who has been treating soldiers and Marines suffering from combat-related emotional trauma.

Iraq & Afghan Wars: Just Give Me Some Truth

Rory O'Connor, 11.12.2009

Director, Producer and Writer of "The Resurrection of Reverend Moon."

Kudos, at long last, to Alissa Rubin for having the courage to say she was wrong. Here's hoping she and others in the Kabul class of 2009 will do better in the future in Afghanistan.

Paying Peter to Kill Paul

Jon Soltz, 11.12.2009

Co-Founder of VoteVets.org, served as a Captain in Operation Iraqi Freedom

American and NATO service members deserve better than to possibly die fighting an insurgency that even American contractors admit is being funded by the Department of Defense.

War Dead and Differential Grief

Jeff Schweitzer, 11.11.2009

Marine Biologist and Former Clinton White House Science Advisor

This year we have lost a total of 429 soldiers, an average of 1.2 per day, every day of the year, or the equivalent of a Ford Hood every 11 days. We should all ponder that.

Another Letter About Afghanistan the President May Not Be Reading

Harry Shearer, 11.11.2009

Actor, author, director, satirist, musician, radio host, playwright, multi-media artist

Following Matthew Hoh's resignation letter comes a missive from William Polk who, like Hoh, finds the only prudent course of action regarding Afghanistan to be a timely removal of troops.

Military Sexual Trauma - Seeking Justice

Marcia G. Yerman, 11.12.2009

New York based writer focusing on women’s issues and the arts. Co-Founder of cultureID.

While embedded with Marines during the invasion of Iraq, journalist Mercedes Gallego was cautioned that it was not safe to be alone. The reason, the servicewomen explained, was fear of being raped.

Obama's Visit to Section 60 Reminds America of War Dead -- Again

Tom Matzzie, 11.11.2009

Political and Media Strategist

President Obama chose to spotlight the ultimate sacrifice that so many of America's servicemen and women have made -- and the military families who carry those sacrifices as well.