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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Thursday, September 3, 2009

Afghanistan - Biden the Voice of Sanity?

Commentary By Ron Beasley



History tells us that Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires.  The lesson of Vietnam is that supporting corrupt and unpopular regimes is never a winner.  Experience would suggest that generals always want more troops.  Well the Karzai government is corrupt and unpopular and the meaningless election will only make matters worse.  And Gen. Stanley McChrystal wants more troops although he has been told not to ask for them right now. 

McClatchy's Nancy Youssef reports that there is a great deal of dissension in the Obama administration on the War in Afghanistan led by VP Joe Biden.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they
weren't authorized to talk to the media, said Biden has argued that
without sustained support from the American people, the U.S. can't make
the long-term commitment that would be needed to stabilize Afghanistan
and dismantle al-Qaida. Biden's office declined to comment.

"I
think they (the Obama administration) thought this would be more
popular and easier," a senior Pentagon official said. "We are not
getting a Bush-like commitment to this war."

Unlike Obama Joe Biden is old enough to remember what Vietnam did to LBJ and the same thing could happen to Obama.  As I  pointed out here Obama's domestic agenda is nearly impossible with the expenses in Afghanistan and Iraq.

No matter what he does Afghanistan may well destroy the Obama presidency. He has boxed himself into a corner.  If he doesn't reduce the US involvement in Afghanistan all hell will break lose.  If he does all hell will break lose.



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