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Upon her return from the CODEL to Afghanistan, Rep. Shea-Porter said"I believe our best chance for success depends on the local tribes' willingness to defend their own backyard."
Well, tonight it looks as if General Petraeus has a similar plan in mind:
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his national security team endorsed a U.S.-backed plan Wednesday to set up local police forces around the country, allowing villagers to protect themselves in areas where international and Afghan forces can't be spared.
...NATO officials declined to publicly comment on the program, even though NATO Commander Gen. David Petraeus has been intimately involved in discussions about it in recent days at the presidential palace.
Shea-Porter issued a release on this news (posted in full below the fold), including:
"I have consistently said that local defense initiatives by Afghan tribal leaders and villagers are critical to success in Afghanistan," said Congresswoman Shea-Porter. "I am pleased that this new community police program will rely on local Afghans defending themselves, and I am hopeful that this will enable Afghans, from the village level up, to take increasing responsibility for their own defense.
Finally, here's a priceless shot of NH's finest from Carol's latest trip:
It's CSP Week on BH. Learn more here about it. Get involved, and give what you can.
Oh, boy. This is really going to put a damper on the Petraeus for President 2012 chatter so often heard among the state elephants:
In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday, Gen. David Petraeus said "the time has come to consider a change" to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that bars openly gay men and women from serving in the military.
...Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified last month that repealing the policy "would be the right thing to do."
"For me, personally, it comes down to integrity -- theirs as individuals and ours as an institution," he said.
Ever since General Petraeus took over in Iraq and was launched into the national spotlight, our political leaders have been unanimous in one thing: Petraeus is a respectable and competent person. As such, the extremely unpopular President is able to hide behind his apolitical military experts by forcing them to promote his extremely politically volatile agenda.
This President, who promised to unite us, has introduced political partisanship into nearly every aspect of government--including the military. And now he sends a General to promote his war, and the Congress allows it by questioning Petraeus on the advisability of continuing.
It's not a General's job to decide whether a war is worth it. It's his job to decide how to carry out the policy put forth by political leaders. This President is using the apolitical credibility of a respectable military figure to promote an agenda that he himself doesn't have the political capital to champion.
That is an abomination. The President owes an apology to the General and all members of the military, current and former, for what he has done to their credibility.
