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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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

US seeks Permanent Bases, Karzai Confirms

By Steve Hynd


If you ever wondered whether the talk of a complete withdrawal by 2015 was honest...



Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday that he was in talks with the United States about the possible establishment of permanent US military bases in his war-ravaged country.


"From the statements made by US officials, US senators to the media and from what they have told us, yes, they have this desire," he said.


"This is an issue that we're in talks with them about."



Then no, it isn't. To save careers, save face and avoid the word "defeat" the U.S. will be propping up the winners it picked for Afghanistan's corruption and drug-running race for decades to come.



1 comment:

  1. The idea of permanent bases in far away places with tenuous supply connections and that are likely to remain hostel to the USA strikes me as completely irrational. It's a bit like setting up isolated forts in Indian Territory while assuming you're surrounded by simple minded benign "heathens" all waiting for the shiny trinkets you hand out when you dare to step outside. Talk about giving hostages to the fates

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