Yes, I Watch Rachel Maddow
On Monday night, Maddow invited counterinsurgency expert John Nagl to discuss Afghanistan in her ‘Talk Me Down’ segment. Nagl is a retired lieutenant colonel who commanded an Army battalion in Baghdad and wrote Learning to Eat Soup With a Knife, an influential analysis of American failures in Vietnam. In addition, Nagl worked with David Petraeus on Field Manual 3-24, the Army’s official doctrine for counterinsurgency, which informed the surge. Currently, Nagl serves as President of the Center for a New American Security, the erstwhile home of many of the top civilians in the Obama Pentagon (except Bob Gates).
FYI, the first five minutes of the clip below are Maddow’s commentary, followed by five minutes of discussion with Nagl. You may want to skip to the discussion if you’re not fond of Ms. Rachel. I certainly wouldn’t mind if she stopped making faces for the camera, as if she were trying to be David Letterman or Jon Stewart. But that’s not important.
What’s really interesting is that in spite of Barack Obama’s constant description of Afghanistan, for two years running, as a war we must win, Maddow basically considers it a lost cause and doesn’t seem to think that there would be serious costs to walking off the playing field. Since I’m no expert on the (overtly) liberal media, I’m not sure whether to take Maddow’s position as a bellwether. Yet it seems that even with a brilliant liberal president in office fighting a war considered fully legitimate by the international community, Maddow and others on the left want no part of it.
via videosift.com
Cross-posted on Conventional Folly
6 Responses to “Yes, I Watch Rachel Maddow”
I watched Phil Donohue last night debating Sean Hannity and I was surprised by one thing. I know we have a lot of troops around the world but Donohue said that we have troops and bases in over 150 countries.
If thats even half right. What the hell is wrong with the USA? Its time to start charging these countries for our services or as I've always advocated. Its time to start bringing the boys home and cut this national defense down to a more appropriate size.
This includes pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Its probably the only thing in the world I can agree with Maddow on. She is nothing more then an Olberman clown wannabe and as much as I dislike Rush Limbaugh and the talking nitwits on the right I cannot stand Olberman, Maddow and Mathews on the left with equal disdain.
This country is truly pre French Revolution right now with bloggers stirring up the pot from the right and the left while the average man on the street is hit with MSM that has become agenda driven, Utube that is full of politics and satire to late night talk shows featuring the president to comedy skits that seem to thrive on Political retardation. Its time for rational thought to hit the air waves and honestly I believe its time to pull the plug on the internet.
This is getting absurd.
What is the end game? A new Central Asian Democracy?
Most of us have looked at a map and attempted to figure out exactly how difficult it is to supply troops there, very difficult!
“time to pull the plug on the internet”
As if that would somehow garner a return to “rational thought”
sheesh.
“I certainly wouldn’t mind if she stopped making faces for the camera,”
maddow quoted the marine manual for count-insurgency:
20-25 counter-insurgents needed per 1000 population.
That's 600,000 + counter-insurgents needed, and this estimate coming from our own armed forces.
I made a face when I heard that too. Why didn't you?
I like Maddow's expressions. She is fresh and funny as hell.
I'm a moderate and yet I find myself agreeing with most of what she says…most, not all..
Afghanistan is a trap. It is a ruse. It is the graveyard of nations. We are seriously stupid, hideously moronic if we think there is anything to gain by being there other than simple machismo of not leaving because we didn't “win”. What the hell is to be “won” in this nation that refuses to ever ever ever be subdued by anyone?
More and more the “reason we're there” (to stamp out Al Qaida) becomes more and more ridiculous. My own well-founded suspicions is that Al Qaida was a nifty name to assign to a group that initially was rebel-roused to create “anti-americanism” as a tool to galvanize us in supporting Bushco's corporate takeover of Iraq's oil. I will repeat this over and over until you all are simply sick of hearing it…and then I'll continue to repeat it: “IF WE WANTED BIN LADEN DEAD, OUR SPECIAL FORCES WOULD'VE SPIED A GNAT ON HIS ASS 8 YEARS AGO AND HAD HIS HEAD ON A PLATTER THEN”.
(Just in case the lower case print causes you to skim over the important parts) *face gyrates in a wide toothy grin*
Our special forces can find anyone, anywhere, anytime…the equipment availible to man-hunt is even beyond what you see in sci-fi…so…the only conclusion is that the CIA purposefully doesn't want to find Bin Laden. So our reason for being in Afghanistan at this point is to assure the Obama administration fails horribly. So yeah….let's go get that Bin Laden and Al Qaida in Afghanistan!!
Get it? The CIA really needs to have it's ranks scrubbed, and scrubbed seriously…
Our special forces can find anyone, anywhere, anytime…
So your contending that Barak Obama has joinned to collusion to not find OBL so that he can now fight his war too?