Farewell. The Flying Pig Has Left The Building.

Steve Hynd, August 16, 2012

After four years on the Typepad site, eight years total blogging, Newshoggers is closing it's doors today. We've been coasting the last year or so, with many of us moving on to bigger projects (Hey, Eric!) or simply running out of blogging enthusiasm, and it's time to give the old flying pig a rest.

We've done okay over those eight years, although never being quite PC enough to gain wider acceptance from the partisan "party right or wrong" crowds. We like to think we moved political conversations a little, on the ever-present wish to rush to war with Iran, on the need for a real Left that isn't licking corporatist Dem boots every cycle, on America's foreign misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. We like to think we made a small difference while writing under that flying pig banner. We did pretty good for a bunch with no ties to big-party apparatuses or think tanks.

Those eight years of blogging will still exist. Because we're ending this typepad account, we've been archiving the typepad blog here. And the original blogger archive is still here. There will still be new content from the old 'hoggers crew too. Ron writes for The Moderate Voice, I post at The Agonist and Eric Martin's lucid foreign policy thoughts can be read at Democracy Arsenal.

I'd like to thank all our regular commenters, readers and the other bloggers who regularly linked to our posts over the years to agree or disagree. You all made writing for 'hoggers an amazingly fun and stimulating experience.

Thank you very much.

Note: This is an archive copy of Newshoggers. Most of the pictures are gone but the words are all here. There may be some occasional new content, John may do some posts and Ron will cross post some of his contributions to The Moderate Voice so check back.


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Monday, July 27, 2009

Recognizing realities

By Fester:

Recognizing reality is often a very good thing.  It allows for the quicker and more accurate correction of mis-orientation and mistakes, and it reduces friction and fog.  Let's take a look at who has the power in Afghanistan. 

CanWest has a short piece on tribal politics and survival instincts:

"If the Dutch leave, this is bad news," Daoud said over tea. "A lot
of people will leave the area and I will be the first of them.

"This
is not only my voice but the voice of my people. If it happens, I will
make a hard decision. If it is safe, I will go to the Taliban for
protection. If it isn't, I will go abroad."

The official government is not seen as a capable protector or patron.  Some of it is due to the tribal politics mentioned in the article, but some is due to the reality of power on the ground.  ISAF and NATO forces can beat down the Taliban in open fighting, the Taliban dominates the unobserved edges, and the Afghan government is a distant player with minimal influence. 

Registan is reporting on the Afghan government truce talks with Taliban aligned fighters north of Herat, and asks the very basic question of why:

It�s not really done successfully for a few weeks to get an election.
And it sure as hell won�t means the peace�assuming it lasts�will
continue afterward. This is just bad news all around. The Taliban have
the momentum; why would they lay down their arms now?


The details of the truce are simple --- the Taliban will giver sufferance to the Afghan government to conduct an election in the district.  It is indicative of relative power levels that the government which is supposed to hold sway in most of the country can not hold an election without the Taliban's permission  in the supposedly secure or at least quieter northwestern portion of the country. 



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