Senate panel approves Gen. Petraeus as new Afghan war commander

Source: The Washington Post

As he drove to his confirmation hearing Tuesday morning, Gen. David H. Petraeus had his third phone conversation in less than a week with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

After his unanimous approval by the Senate Armed Services Committee to be the new Afghan war commander, Petraeus flew home to Tampa, where he hosted Vice President Biden and his wife for dinner.

The general, in short, is reaching out to all sides.

Symbolism and the force of Petraeus's reputation as the nation's premier warrior-diplomat may help bridge internal disagreements and dispel doubts about President Obama's Afghanistan strategy. Petraeus told lawmakers he has also reached out to Richard C. Holbrooke, the administration's top diplomat on Afghanistan and Pakistan, and will pick up Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry en route to Kabul so that the two can arrive there together.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/29/AR2010062901994.html?wprss=rss_politics

There's no doubt in my mind that Obama's strategy for Afghanistan stinks big time. We should have pulled out all our troops out of Afghanistan a long time ago. This smacks of failed colonialism, it's costing a ton of money, and all it'll accomplish is a bigger defeat. I sure hope the American people learn a lesson from this failure, as well as Iraq. We really need to stop the increasing militarization of society. The US military has become a parasite preying on the country, they are nearly useless, and they should all be pulled back to the barracks.