Democracy: Afghan Style
Hamid Karzai pulls a fast one:
The country’s Electoral Complaints Commission previously included three foreign experts chosen by the UN. But Karzai has taken exclusive power to appoint all five panel members under a presidential decree published today, while the Afghan parliament is in recess.
After all, we don’t want another repeat of the vote-rigging in last year’s presidential elections, do we? Or, rather, we don’t want a repeat of the investigation into vote-rigging.
The Brutal and Simple Truth of War
Victor Davis Hanson, at National Review Online, on the brutal, simple and, for many, unpalatable truth of winning the war on terror:
Insurgencies, of course, are complex operations, but in general even they are not immune from eternal rules of war. Winning hearts and minds is essential; providing security for the populace is crucial; improving the economy is critical to securing the peace. But all that said, we cannot avoid the pesky truth that in war — any sort of war — killing enemy soldiers stops the violence.
