The New 'Forgotten War'

Obama can't know much about anything when he's only dimley awar eof what his own pastor said...
.....for years....
the hotspot is Iranand Iraq...and it was Bush who saw things threw to get things in North korea resolved without further conflict. Obama is not going to heal the world. He's not going to go the distance.

Since when are things going well in Iraq? Is this the reason why Malaki wants a timeline for U.S. withdrawal?

Do the tribal areas in Pakistan have authority independent of the central Pakistani government, that permits them to give the Taliban use these areas as safe havens? Is president Pervez Musharraf a paper tyger, that lets the tribal leaders to protect the Taliban after they return from military incursions against the ally forces in Afghanistan? Maybe Obama is right. Pakistan's border with Afghanistan has to be more secured, and Musharraf is not doing much about it.

Very good article. The real problem is indeed Pakistan, and I think that is why Obama is so urgently calling for getting out of Iraq and focusing again on Afghanistan. Until the Pakistanis are able to clean out Al Qaeda from their territory they will keep causing havoc in Afghanistan. This will be a VERY difficult problem however, because no one wants 200 Million Pakistanis angry over unilateral incursions into their territory, yet leaving it alone to fester leaves Al Qaeda able to plan another 9/11. I think Obama's approach of selective force is the best start, and hopefully things don't get too out of hand.

Mr Hirsh, it's a pleasant suprise to see that you can actually build an argument based on real life situations. You should stick to this kind of commentary and forget about the oversimplified Republicans bad, Democrats good opinions you are so fond of (and most of all the cheerleading for the unintentionally funny Joe Biden).

There is such a careless air about all of the ideas that we can just make a little war here, and a little more war there, willy nilly, convenient to our world politics. We really can't do that. We are broke, literally in the hole. A big hole. Our military is an all volunteer force. They are stretched to our limit while our government has not asked us to sacrifice and has instead borrowed from other countries in effect to wage unnecessary and poorly planned war. We are now out of war. There are no more places for us to war unless we agree to a draft to fill our military blanks and extra high taxes to pay for more equipment and troops. So, if you are a draft aged blogger and you wish to wage a few more little wars, then get your affairs in order. Especially, pay off all your debt. You are soon to be a 100 dollar a month drafted private in the army. Enjoy it. It will make your life better. Especially it will teach you to be realistic about wars, their necessity and their cost in life and resources needed for other things. Best of all, you will get out of the service with the GI Bill for Education which will allow you to go to a good college and learn more about wars and their folly, if you hadn't already learned about them in one of war's bloody trenches, either freezing or burning in tropical or desert heat.

Yes, the greatest threat to the world is Pakistan/India. We ignore most of wjat is going on over in those countries because we have no contingencies to deal with either country. We stand by and let tensions continue to escelate, and we are to afraid to even bring our problems up to the leaders of the countries. Lets start focusing on the real threats to this country and the world at large.

As was stated "no one has offered a better answer yet" The probablity of direct conflick with Pakistan continues to grow.
The Bush failure to fignt the war on terror where the terrorists actually were is rapidly growing out of control.
But I think you sell Obama short, he has been acutely aware of this failure and as you noted has clearly stated he will take the fight to the enemy in Pakistan if need be.
McCain on the other hand is busy still trying to sell the surge and thinks Pakistan shares a border with Iraq, so we can safely assume he doesn't even know where Pakistan is.

They didn't miss it..They're ignoring it because it's radioactive

They didn't miss it..They're ignoring it because it's radioactive.

Our nations focus internationally since the end of World War II has been to maintain our own position as a super power. During this time we have shifted alliances to meet our own needs to keep other nations from challenging us. We would, and did, side with Iraq when it suited us, with Iran when it suited us, with this dictator, or that dictator, as it suited our own interests.
The result for many other nations in the world has been to suppress their ability to gain stature and influence. If Iran got too strong we would back Iraq in their disputes with Iran, if Iraq got too strong we would back Iran in their disputes with Iraq. We would do the same throughout the world; maintaining instability everywhere else so we could maintain our position as a super power.
We can't continue this successfully anymore; the costs are simply too high and the progress of others on the international stage has been too great for there not to be some kind of realignment of power so that we have less influence and less power.
We can't pretend the rest of the world will do our bidding anymore, they want to achieve a greater equality with us and there are nations that now do have more legitimate power that are moving into the power vacuum created by the misdeeds of our present leadership. Our present leaders are so ineffective the rest of the world has had no choice but to look elsewhere for leadership, and they are finding and developing that leadership in a manner that does disminsh our influence, though not necessarily in a manner detrimental to us or the rest of the world.
A greater independence from us isn't necessarily bad and not too much different than when our own children gain their independence. It scares us and we need to develop a more mature basis with our children in that circumstance and it is the same with the rest of world as they take on a greater since of responsibility as well.
Both candidates live in the past, as they believe they must as politicians confronted with an electorate that in their lifetimes have seen us as the most important superpower, with actual superpower and a sense of control in the world. The real change that we face and they will face is how do we share power with others in a that works for them, for us, and for the rest of the world while allowing other nations greater equality with us in their relationship with us.

Nicholas Kristoff wrote a brilliant column recently in the New York Times, and I couldn't help but remember it when I read the last line of this article about no one having a good answer yet. "It takes a school, not missiles," he says. Read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/opinion/13kristof.html?scp=1&sq=schools,%20not%20missiles&st=cse

WE poor and middle class are sick of john McCain he is another millionaire like geo. bush
and he can't remember anything ,he only for the rich and cank even talk looks like old age to me VP very importain for this one , he may live ,but his mind is going .

Hirsh: Obama and McCain have no differences in Iraq? That isn't lazy reporting, that's a direct misrepresentation of McCain's position, to McCain's advantage. McCain has not advocated complete withdrawal from Iraq at any time.

You sir are a liar.