THANKSGIVING RE-UP - U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Charles H. Jacoby Jr., commanding general of Multinational Corps Iraq, re-enlists Pfc. James A. Persinger before joining soldiers for their Thanksgiving meal on Joint Security Station Cahill in Baghdad, Nov. 26, 2009. Persinger is assigned to the 10th Mountain Division's Company B, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Mark Woelzlein In Afghanistan, Real Leverage Starts With More Troops -- Frederick W. Kagan and Kimberly Kagan, Washington Post
The president will soon announce the deployment of additional U.S. forces to Afghanistan, in a speech likely to emphasize the importance of political progress there. Legitimacy is the most important outcome of a counterinsurgency strategy, not, as some have suggested, an input. It is unfortunate that much of the debate has ignored the role that additional military forces can play in building legitimacy and effective government in a counterinsurgency. Adding forces gives us leverage; military forces are vital to the success of any political strategy because they contribute directly to improving governance as well as to improving security.
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More Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials
Obama Needs a Quick Win in Afghanistan -- Con Coughlin, Daily Telegraph
Gordon Brown's Small Afghan Games -- Michael Glackin, Daily Star
How power corrupts in Kabul -- Alex de Waal, The Guardian
A Hug from Lula -- Washington Post editorial
Dubai: A morally bankrupt dictatorship built by slave labour -- Johann Hari, The Independent
Alone, and Right, on Honduras -- Edward Schumacher-Matos, Washington Post
Obama Made the Right Call on KSM -- Thomas Wilner, Wall Street Journal
Enabling the Next Fort Hood? -- Michael Bloomberg and Thomas Kean, Washington Post
Obama's Secret Climate Pact with China -- Richard Wolffe, The Daily Beast
The Global Cooling Cover Up -- Washington Times editorial
We Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet -- Victor Davis Hanson, National Review
