Best of The Streak 2008

First appeared December 24, 2008

In October, Gen. David McKiernan, commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan expressed skepticism over the prospect of signing up tribal militias, Anbar Province-style, to fight the Taliban. Over the last several days, it’s become increasingly clear that a Sons-of-Afghanistan style approach — the recruitment of tribal auxiliaries — is nevertheless in [...]

First appeared December 12, 2008

As I wrote on Wednesday, there are already several lawsuits from torture victims pending against the United States, and some legal scholars predict many more to come. So what if an Obama-sponsored investigative commission set up a means for compensating torture victims? That could save the government a whole lot of [...]

First appeared November 11, 2008
A number of sites have featured a hypothetical electoral map entitled “This Is What the 2008 Electoral Map Would Look Like if the Election Were Decided by 18-29 Year Olds.” Needless to say, it’s a very blue map.
I spent the weekend poring over the CNN exit polls from last Tuesday’s election [...]

First appeared November 4, 2008
Chicago, Ill — This victory is more than historic. President-elect Barack Obama’s victory marks political progress far broader than race — especially because his campaign de-emphasized it whenever possible.
The tens of thousands of people cheering here in Grant Park, at what is shaping up to be one of the largest victory [...]

First appeared October 6, 2008
Over the weekend, Sen. John McCain’s brother referred to the Northern Virginia suburbs of Arlington and Alexandria as “communist country,” presumably for their traditional Democratic-leaning ways.
I don’t cover politics at TWI, so I’m not going to comment on the campaign strategy behind the remarks. But I do live in Arlington, in [...]

First appeared September 25, 2008
Forty years ago, in September 1968, the North Vietnamese launched the Tet offensive — which changed mainstream America’s view of the Vietnam War. In living rooms across the nation, Americans saw a gruesome display of how powerless the United States forces looked as they struggled to gain control over a millitary [...]

First appeared September 15, 2008
COMBAT OUTPOST ZORMAT, Afghanistan – A friend emailed me to say that all my journalism is for naught if I don’t report what 1st Platoon Hooligans are listening to these days. While I don’t concede the point, I did put the question to the platoon as they waited — in vain, [...]

First appeared September 12, 2008

As the cable news networks parse every word of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s interview with ABC’s Charlie Gibson — with more still to come today — some are debating the fairness of Gibson asking Palin for her views on “the Bush Doctrine.” In short, the Bush Doctrine states that the United [...]

First appeared September 8, 2008
WASILLA, Alaska — In my quest to understand Gov. Sarah Palin, I attended services at her church, the Wasilla Bible Church, Sunday morning. I ended up being shooed out of the parking lot — but I’ll get to that in a minute.
It felt a bit like a high-school gym or auditorium, [...]

First appeared September 8, 2008
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — Usually when you hear about cross-border attacks here, they are perpetrated by the Taliban. Not so much in recent weeks — this time it’s the U.S. dipping its toes into Pakistan, which Sen. John McCain has said Sen. Barack Obama is naive for proposing.
Last week, the [...]