SandBoxBlogs: Union Leader "For what, all these wars?"

An outstanding piece from Pat Buchanan.  A must read.  (Click title for full column)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBox Comments: Dept of Defense "Combined Force Captures 2 Taliban Leaders"

"KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 14, 2012 – An Afghan and coalition security force captured two Taliban leaders and a suspected insurgent during an operation in the Maidan Shar district of Afghanistan’s Wardak province today, military officials reported.

Both captured Taliban leaders directed attacks against Afghan government officials, and acquired and built improvised explosive devices for use in attacks, officials said...."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBox Comments: Stars and Stripes "Marines to wind down Afghan combat in 2012 "

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan (AP) -- U.S. Marines will march out of Afghanistan by the thousands next year, winding down combat in the Taliban heartland and testing the U.S. view that Afghan forces are capable of leading the fight against a battered but not yet beaten insurgency in the country's southwestern reaches, American military officers say.

At the same time, U.S. reinforcements will go to eastern Afghanistan in a bid to reverse recent gains by insurgents targeting Kabul, the capital.

Gen. James F. Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps, said in an Associated Press interview that the number of Marines in Helmand province will drop "markedly" in 2012, and the role of those who stay will shift from countering the insurgency to training and advising Afghan security forces.

The change suggests an early exit from Afghanistan for the Marine Corps even as the prospects for solidifying their recent successes are uncertain...."

(Robert Burns)

(Read more?  Click title. Comment to discuss)