Volcanic Holy War Erupting

Another legacy of the Bush / Cheney administration: the ongoing mess in Pakistan and Afghanistan. By choosing to fight a war in Iraq instead of attacking the guys who brought down the World Trade Center - Bin Laden and his supporters in the Taliban - we now face a holy war in Pakistan and Afghanistan - them against us - and we're facing forces that have grown far stronger in spite of our spending billions of dollars there over the past eight years.

This is yet another giant, complex mess that President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton is trying to tackle.  While I have little understanding here, I remain concerned by the deployment of American troops into a giant quagmire in a part of the world that has historically caused great armies and powers to fail.  And be mindful that the military industrial establishment benefits in a destabilized world. So those guys are going to be delighted by these new troop commitments and a new war to fight.

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Obama: Master of the Universe

In advance of the upcoming G-20 meeting in London, President Barack Obama seeks to lead with an editorial that appeared in over 30 newspapers around the world.  We're in a period of national and global transformation.  Just about everything that affects our lives is in hyper-change right now, from the economy to the environment, to media and how information is delivered.  With all this change, it's a good thing we have a steady hand and a clear thinking, intelligent guy at the top who is smart enough to make decisions based on a team of people who are likely even more knowledgeable than Obama is in their respective areas of expertise. Let me also note that Obama's communications team continues to amaze me by their mastery of message and the means of delivering it both through new media and old.

From the editorial:

"I know that America bears our share of responsibility for the mess that we all face. But I also know that we need not choose between a chaotic and unforgiving capitalism and an oppressive government-run economy. That is a false choice that will not serve our people or any people....

The nations of the world have a stake in one another. The United States is ready to join a global effort on behalf of new jobs and sustainable growth. Together, we can learn the lessons of this crisis, and forge a prosperity that is enduring and secure for the 21st century."

Read the entire editorial.