[Armorer's note: Denizen Ry originally had this in the H&I post, but since he was getting all wordy and intellectual and stuff, ruining the general low standards set for that item, I moved him out here all on his own.]
The view out there of Afghanistan, GWOT, and Iraq is changing. And, importantly, not just in our own media. Global opinion can matter you know.
John Robb would recognize the flavor of this story about a resurgent Taliban presence in Waziristan. Looks like systems disruption. That isn't good.
This story claims that the mission was flawed from the beginning because the US was too soft in how it prosecuted the war in Afghanistan. I can see it, sorta. When you have the chance to put someone out of the game you give them a chance to re-arm and be nasty. But, it also ignores that the US couldn't attack mosques without a major political risk. Global opinion can matter.
Here's one that's pushing the line that Haditha isn't all that isolated.
What they believe over there shapes what happens. If they believe it's going to hell in a handbasket we're screwballed. If the populace there doesn't believe in it then it probably isn't going to happen.
But, at the same time, a few offensives and a few news stories aren't the whole battle, the whole war, or the whole picture. Let's see what it's like in two weeks once the Canadians are truly set up and up to speed in Afghanistan. I feel bad for the Jihadis already. Let's see what happens on the 'massacre' front in a few months. This, like the bombing of a wedding by US forces, could turn out to be baloney and just fade away as an infowar ploy.
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