America's sudoku wars

[CHIMO]

At Durulaman, west of Kabul, beneath the ruined, shell-pocked palace of Afghanistan's vanquished kings, stands Camp Dubs, home to the US army's counter-insurgency training centre. The base is named after Adolph Dubs, America's former ambassador to Kabul, who was kidnapped by Islamists in 1979. After a brief hostage siege, Dubs was shot and killed.

As the US discovered in Iraq, it's easier to get into a war than get out – and to a significant degree, Washington, like the hapless Dubs, is now held hostage in Afghanistan. At the same time, the US is here because it wants to be. Believing it will just up and leave any time soon is plain wishful thinking.

Iraq and Afghanistan are America's sudoku wars. Put simply, by occupying blank or vacated spaces, Washington gets a handle on the nextdoor squares. It's a geostrategic numbers game. Thus what follows, in logical sequence, are Pakistan and Iran. In this continuing gambit to "shape the security environment", as US planners say, Afghanistan is an irreplaceable asset.

Barack Obama's West Point speech, setting a July 2011 "timeline" for the start of an American withdrawal, was widely misinterpreted. It is true, the speech was no call to arms. In domestic terms, it could be termed political damage limitation. But it is not surrender.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/06/afghanistan-barack-obama-war-iraq

[NYC_SKP]

1. Sudoku is fine if you don't use an ink pen.

And if know when to erase an entry.

[panader0]

2. I am a sudoku and crossword fan

I always use ink. It's brave.

[NYC_SKP]

3. I use pen on crosswords, I haven't mastered the Sudoku.

I occasionally have to write over a letter on a crossword, maybe even an entire word.

But Sudokus are more challenging.

Of course, my point was that if one makes a mistake on either puzzle, like the Afghanistan effort, one better be able to undo it or change strategies.

[panader0]

4. Point taken

[Demeter]

5. Sudoku Is a Logic Puzzle, and there is no logic in Iraq or Afghan Wars

and America doesn't do logic. Hence the total failures.

And hence the appeal of Star Trek to the thinking people of this country. Beam us up, Scotty! No signs of intelligent life down here!



I sure would like to know why I was born in this Ferengi world.