Thursday, February 23, 2012

Will the NY Times..

....give us 30 days of front page coverage of the Afghan Koran-burning fubar?   As of this writing there were no stories jumping right off that front page.  Yet is it that much different than Abu Graihb?  Both were small contingents of clueless or thoughtless individuals doing something they should have known would look bad if discovered (and hurt our overall efforts).  And so far as anyone can tell neither were part of some kind of grand presidential policy.  Obama apologized--what else could he do?   Bush did likewise. 

Clearly, Abu Graihb irrevocably harmed our efforts in Iraq; this will make it hard to remain in Afghanistan.  Many folks there are liable to never trust another word we say--and not just the crazies.  And of course a bigger gift the Taliban could have never expected.  But the damage is potentially not just in Afghanistan, it's worldwide.  Indeed this thing could really get away from us, apologies or not, if we can't find a way to tamp it down.

Or would leaving make it go away?   There are ongoing negotiations, reportedly.

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