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Lt. General John Allen suceeds General Petraeus as head of the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan. He is best known for promoting the Sunni Awakening in Anbar province, Iraq, that helped the U.S. win the confidence of Sunni tribal leaders and quell the insurgents there.

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Dexter Filkins says corruption in the Afghan government may prove more dangerous than the Taliban. Western officials may say is alright and have low expectations, but this may not be true for the ordinary Afghan people. Filkins points to this as a reason for the people turning to the Taliban.

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U.S. president Obama called Libya and the policy of not following up on helping establish a stable democratic government in Libya his biggest mistake. Kristof of the NYT says people looking back would say Syria and not establishing safe zones is Obama's biggest mistake. He describes the 470,000 deaths in Syria as a huge tragedy that could have been avoided to a large extent by setting up safe zones. In addition the UN estimates that millions of refugees on a scale similar to the partition of India in 1947 were created.There is bipartisan opinion on this. Kristof cites General Cartwright's opinion in a conversation he had with Cartwright that this should have been done. Others who agree are Madeleine Albright, Bill Clinton's Secretary of State, who spoke at the Democratic Convention about how America helped change her life as a young refugee after Russia's invasion of Czechoslovakia following Prague Spring. Albright says force should be used carefully so as not to aggravate the situation but action taken where needed, something that was done successfully under Bill Clinton in the Bosnian conflict following Serbia's ethnic cleansing policy under Milosevic. Not only that, with the diplomacy of ambassador Holbrooke Clinton was able to negotiate the peace accords that hold till today- a huge achievement.  Kori Schake, director of defense strategy in the George W. Bush White House also agrees. This would have improved U.S. relations with Turkey as this was a key Turkish request. And it would have reduced the dimensions of the refugee crisis in Europe, which has hurt the European Union. The Brexit "No" vote many in Britain have attributed to ads showing refugees in endless numbers streaming across Europe's borders. Similar ads were used in Austria's elections. Kristof points out that Secretary of State Kerry's job of negotiating a peace is difficult in these conditions. Another issue raised by Kristof is the lack of Obama's leadership in helping the refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, as he points out only 41% of this is funded. David Miliband former British Foreign Secretary, who heads the International Rescue Committee , says 200,000 Syrian kids are growing up in Lebanon without an education. George Washington counseled against getting involved in the wars on the European continent for a young nation, this advice was not followed in the Reagan and other administrations without showing the carefulness needed before action is taken. As Hillary Clinton has once pointed out the situation has resembled a pendulum swinging in the other direction under president Obama, and former Defense Secretary, Panetta, has expressed similar views. Hillary Clinton and Leon Panetta, Gates, Gen. Jones, served in the first term of the Obama administration, many of these mistakes were made in the second term by president Obama and his White House advisors Dennis McDonough, Valerie Jarrett who clearly lacked the deep foreign policy experience of Hillary Clinton, Leon Panetta (who served under Bill Clinton), and Gates who served under many presidents). ...

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Lt. Gen John Kelly loses his son Robert in Afghanistan and talks about the immense burdens facing military families. Robert is out on patrol duty in a mine filled area of Afghanistan's Sangin district. Only 1% of the population serves in the military. And Kelly says his is only one of 5500 American families that have lost a child in this war. There is a sense among military families that the war and these military families have been forgotten. One Marine Corps general wrote to Kelly that service to and sacrifice for the country has become a legacy affair for a small number of military families. Before the midterm Congressional elections only 2% of the people rated Afghanistan as a top issue and hardly any candidates mentioned this issue. Tom Brokaw, a well known anchor of NBC News, wrote in a major daily that the war and the sacrifices have been forgotten in the election and hardly discussed. Adm. Mike Mullen went so far as to say that he worries that we could wake up one day and that the American people will no longer know us and we won't know them....

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Morello of the WP describes the situation in Afghanistan with about 10,000 U.S. troops remaining in the country and the Taliban refusing to continue negotiations started earlier. About one in five migrants to Europe are from Afghanistan as more educated people leave the country for better lives overseas. The Taliban is tapping into the discontent in the country with the large number of unemployed following the U.S. withdrawal. Morello says the poverty rate has increased to 49% by 2016.

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Two thirds of Americans are becoming pessimistic about the economy. This is one of the results of a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll. This is up from 53% in January. Voters are losing confidence in the idea that the Democrats can come up with better solutions than the Republicans. Only 24% of those polled have positive feelings for the Republican party, with Democrats doing only slightly better. Democratic pollster, Peter Hart- who along with Republican pollster Bill McInturff conducted the survey- calls it the JetBlue election. This description is from the JetBlue flight attendent who ran from the plane after exiting through an emergency chute. There is a sense of severe discomfort and looking for the exit, he says. With 6 in 10 of those polled expressing a loss of confidence in the policies of the Obama administration to improve the economy, including 83% of independents, and a quarter of Democrats. The situation has deteriorated on the confidence level with the war in Afghanistan as well. 68% of those polled say they are less confident now that the war in Afghanistan can be brought to a successful conclusion....

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This article by Saeed Shah and Syed Hasan describes the Taliban factions from the tribal areas that control parts of Karachi, Pakistan's main commercial city on the Arabian Sea. It provides a detailed map showing the outlying areas around the city centre, especially the shantytown areas and the areas with Pashtun majority population controlled by Taliban with roots in the tribal areas. The Taliban charge taxes and adminster law in the areas they control. A major operation was launched since Sept. 2013 by the Sharif government to free this key city of Pakistan from Taliban control and the wave of kidnappings, extortion and other violence from Taliban members. About 168 police officers have been killed in the efforts to control the city, but areas under Taliban control are still hard to patrol by government police and special Ranger force. Karachi anxiously awaits the result of peace talks of the Sharif government with Taliban. If the talks fail and an operation is launched against Taliban in tribal areas the repercussions will be felt in Karachi. Shah and Hasan provide a excellent picture of the tribal loyalties, religious extremism and entrenched culture of violent activity that extends from the border tribal regions of Pakistan into the commercial centres such as Karachi that is a vexing problem for the Sharif administration, police, business and ordinary citizens....

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As many as 2 million votes in the 2014 Afghanistan elections are called into question. This is 2 million out of a total of 8 million. In the last election it is estimated 1.3 million fradulent votes were made for Hamid Karzai. This time it is said security officials, government officials and others worked together to get as many as 2 million votes for Asraf Ghani, who Karzai supports. This is happening even as the Taliban are increasing attacks in the country and the Americans are withdrawing. It shows that instead of a withdrawal that the Obama administration promised their appears to be a situation that is no different from that of the Bush administration, where American lives were lost and sacrifices made without even the most basic results- no assurance that if the government collapses from strains within and outside, Taliban and terrorism could not happen again as is hapening in Iraq.

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In a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll taken December 11-14, the results show how fast things have changed in one year for the Obama administration. Today less than half of the people approve of the job Obama has done as President. And among core constituencies which helped Obama win the election he is losing support. A third of voters 34 and under feel negative toward the Democratic party. When asked about their sentiment Mike Ashmore, a23 year old from Lansdale, Pa., an independent who supported Obama what bothered him most was the lack of action on jobs. With Hispanics those who are positive about Democrats has dropped steeply from 60% to 38%. And Mr. obama's personal popularity has dropped, now only 50% feel positive about him down from 68% in January. Overal 35% feel positive about the Democratic party in Dec 2009, compared to 49% in February 2009. Something serious is happening here. Because this does not translate into gains fro the Republicans who are where they were earleir in the year. Only 28% of voters expressed positive feelings for the Republican which is what it has been all through the summer and fall of 2009. On Afghanistan only 44% feel its the right approach to do atroop buildup, 41% oppose. So the President support especially in his own party is not much here. If 28% of voters feel positive about Republicans, and only a litle more 34% feel positive about Democrats, then how will voters make achoice between candidiates in elections? Would they go by the merit of the candidate regardless of party. Something else that Americans are beginning to sense is that the country's prospects look grim with the economy, jobs, and the national debt and deficits, as well as a sense of lacking much needed renewal. ...

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Infratest Dimap polling institute is commissioned by DW.com to find out what Germans think of the refugee policy of chancellor Merkel one year later. In summer 2015 Merkel said on Aug 31, "We can do it." Costs related to the refugees are about $17 billion, do Germans think services are overstretched for education, healthcare housing and other services. On the other side German society is aging and for every 100 unemployed people there are 200 open positions for skilled personnel. But the refugees who are accepted do not have the skills required and have to acquire the skills or given training and education. On this issue DW.com asked the question whether it will strengthen the German economy. About 51% agree and 45% disagree on this question, and about the same number agree and disagree on the question that Germany will be overstretched providing the services for housing, education, healthcare and other services. The higher educated and young are more favorable to accepting refugees, with those over 50 and basic schooling unfavorable. On the AfD side most people are unfavorable, and in the Greens party most are favorable. On terrorist incidents probability, over 58% think this is more likely, 38% disagree. On the question of whether this will make Germany more diverse 56% agree, 40% disagree. Overall the situation appears to be balanced, with a range of views expressed, and the positive and negative sentiment "evenly balanced", says DW.com.  ...

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Chandrasekeran looks back on the troop surge ordered by President Obama on the advice of General Petraeus and General McChrystal in Afghanistan, and the results in Afghanistan as the U.S. withdraws troops in 2012-2013.

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The problem of information providers is linked to the problem of the recipient of the information- the common man in America. For the common man in America these are distant places with strange cultures and manners of living, remote from his everyday existence in an industrialized country. Why should the common man in America care if a small fraction of GNP and a trained military with advanced equipment will be sufficient to deal with situations in remote places. A fast growing economy between 1950- 2000 could also absorb the costs of local conflicts. The reason the common man in America should care is that the economy is expected to grow slowly, so that poor information leading to poor decisions on allocating limited and declining resources for different local conflicts- a war in Iraq costing 1 trillion dollars, and a war in Afghanistan 1 trillion dollars- can compromise future economic security, investment in America and overall defense needs. Especially when money wasted with poor decisions cannot be retrieved or put back in the Treasury, and creates future problems....

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Democrats are on a rapid schedule, and would like to pass abudget resolution by April 3, 2009. Democrats were generally enthusiastic about the first budget, and say they plan to move it quickly through both Houses of Congress. Democrats may have an easier time passing the budget than other legislation, because under Senate rules the key steps in the budget process can't be filibustered, and Democrtats have significant majorities in both chambers of Congress. Another good sign is that Democrats like Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee, aprominent Blue Dog in the fiscally conservative Blue Dog coalition, had high praise for the President's budget blueprint, saying it got rid of the gimmicks of previous years like not including the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Under Bush the wars were paid for in socalled supplemental bills. "This is more honest than any budget in many, many years. That means its also ugly. I welcome the honesty. I think its time for Americans to grapple with fundamental problems, and not pretend that wars are free and things like that." He praised the courage to make an accurate diagnosis, and he likes the fact that the deficit is projected out for 10 years. What is not not as copnspicuous is the use of optimistic assumptions in the projections out over 10 years as the economy is assumed to recover quickly which no be the case....

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The solitary side of Obama's nature, which leads to an insular presidency, without the frequent contact with other political leaders and the public. Kornblut calls it the schmooze deficit. One Democratic leader says Obama is daisdainful of things that make people feel connected to him. In numerous interviews lawmakers from both parties complained of arms-length treatment. Earlier reports also show a leader who does not go outside his close inner circle to understand what is happening in the country. Obama is not known for making social encounters outside the ones scheduled or to make spontaneous calls. Some of this solitary nature comes across in this autobiography, "Dreams From My Father." In that memoir Obama writes that if the talk began to wander, or cross the border into familiarity, he would soon find reason to excuse himself. And that he had grown too comfortable in his solitude, the safest place he knew.