A response to Spencer Ackerman’s opening gambit on Pakistan diplomacy

What are the consequences of General Kayani’s 3 year extension for the US war in Afghanistan?

What does the story of a night raid in Wardak province tell us about the consequences of our war in Afghanistan?

How to protect the media’s election narrative on, or in spite of, the war in Afghanistan.

I am the Afghanistan Blogging Fellow for The Seminal and Brave New Foundation. You can read my work on The Seminal or at Rethink Afghanistan. The views expressed below are my own. Over the weekend, Tom Hayden had a great opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times where he pretty much destroys the whole idea [...]

Yesterday, October officially became the deadliest month for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since the war began. The death toll was pushed over that grim marker by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the single deadliest weapon used against U.S. forces in Afghanistan. IED deaths have increased alongside U.S. troop increases every year since the U.S. invaded.

President Obama wants you to know he can be tough like Sarah Palin:

President Barack Obama on Tuesday ruled out shrinking the Afghanistan war to a counterterrorism campaign. Yet he did not signal whether he is prepared to send any more troops to the war zone — either the 40,000 his top commander wants or a smaller buildup, according to several officials.

…

Obama said the war would not be reduced to a narrowly defined counterterrorism effort…[S]uch a scenario has been inaccurately characterized and linked to Vice President Joe Biden, and…Obama wanted to make clear he is considering no such plan.

So, contrary to all the propaganda, the White House Afghanistan Huddle is only considering a very narrow set of options, all apparently within the counterinsurgency domain. What’s been hyped as wide-ranging debate challenging fundamental assumptions turns out to be a chat in the minivan about whether or not to SuperSize the value meal. Go, team.

I’ve just launched an act.ly petition asking the White House to end the war in Afghanistan. Please sign it and forward it around to your networks. It includes an embedded section of the Rethink Afghanistan documentary and a link to Peace Action West’s Facebook vigil at the White House.

The Times breaks the bad news:

Four American soldiers died in a roadside bomb in Afghanistan today, making 2009 the deadliest year for foreign troops there since the 2001 invasion.

With four months of the year still to go, today’s deaths in Helmand province bring the number of foreign forces killed in 2009 to 295, according to the website icasualties.org, which compiles official data. The previous deadliest year was 2008, when 294 foreign troops died.

Civilian casualties are also rising. The Pashtuns rejected election participation.

It’s not working. It’s time to leave.