Free Republic

Former FBI Director James Comey is in serious legal trouble if the General Patreaus case has any bearing – a case Comey tried and sought a conviction for. According to a 2016 article in the Washington Post, in early 2014 top federal law enforcement officials gathered together to discuss the criminal charges they were contemplating against David Petraeus, the ­hero wartime general and former CIA director whose public career was derailed about 15 months earlier over illegal actions he had purportedly taken.

America as George Orwell's 1984, Room 101, Where the Lights Never Go Out. Peter Cushing, BBC 1954 live teleplay of George Orwell's 1984, "How Many Fingers"? youtube.com/watch?v=wTFV9w4B0eg

It takes me a little time to deal with the emotions that bubble up when something does not go my way. I even got into a spat when Tom said after the election that locusts were next here at the Jersey Shore. I shot back saying I would kick his ass if I saw even one locust and that, even though he is a far more accomplished brawler that I, I could do it because in Jersey we don't fight fair. NJ is more often than not ahead of the curve. Obama took the middle in this election because "...

For many Americans who are weary of Iraq, Afghanistan is the "good war" where the U.S. and its European allies are destroying what's left of al- Qaeda and the Taliban. That view certainly holds with the Democratic presidential candidates, who talk of adding more troops in Afghanistan next year even as they pull troops out of Iraq. But "bad" Iraq has more in common with "good" Afghanistan than people sometimes realize. Both have evolved into classic counterinsurgencies with a "clear and hold" strategy for providing security; both show the benefits of a military surge; and both run the risk of...

Judging by his agile performance at Tuesday's Iraq hearings, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) now is opting for the famous George Aiken formula from Vietnam days: Declare victory and get out. Or, rather, as an update on the late Vermont Republican's 1966 idea, Obama would declare the situation in Iraq "manageable" and drastically reduce American forces -- possibly, he suggested, to just 30,000. Of the three presidential candidates displaying their intellectual wares in questioning Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, Obama surely was the most subtle and shrewd. He also gave a bit of a hint of...

The Anaconda Chart is a complex graphic that depicts an intricate, multi-dimensional war. It's tough to describe even with a copy in front of you. However, the strategic concept behind Petraeus' chart (titled "Anaconda Strategy versus al-Qaida in Iraq") is dirt simple: Squeeze and keep squeezing. A commercial artist would certainly describe the chart as "too busy," but war isn't an exercise in aesthetics. The Anaconda Strategy identifies six routes of attack on al-Qaida in Iraq: 1) Kinetics (which includes combat); 2) Politics (which includes countering ethno-sectarian pressures and Iraqi political reconciliation); 3) Intelligence (operations from air recon to intel...

I think the liberals are going to be in some real trouble. Our military plans are constantly evolving and we are killing them(al-qaeda and other insurgents) at an enormous rate on a daily basis. Iraqis are finally realizing that for us to leave they have to take responsibility for their own security. I'm kind of looking forward to my deployment to Iraq before the end of the year. I think light is peeking through!