that the somber seriousness of the presidency has yet to sink in

jaysus what a catty bitch !

he’s kiddin. this is primo bullshit.

Cohen has never been very coherent – he’s nothing more than a tool of the right wing – gotta “win” in Afganistan (no definition given of winning), but don’t raise his taxes or ask his children or grandchildren to serve in the military.

IIRC Cohen got a bit of a tingle up his leg with Commander Codpiece (and yes, I know it was Tweety that actually stated he got the tingle up his leg).

well the troll sure as hell isn’t referencing this poll

The United States is the most admired country globally thanks largely to the star power of President Barack Obama and his administration, according to a new poll.

It climbed from seventh place last year, ahead of France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan which completed the top five nations in the Nation Brand Index (NBI).

“What’s really remarkable is that in all my years studying national reputation, I have never seen any country experience such a dramatic change in its standing as we see for the United States for 2009,” said Simon Anholt, the founder of NBI, which measured the global image of 50 countries each year.

busy, busy, busy redefining schmuck on a daily basis

Another fuckin’ armchair warrior. Takes a lot of balls to tell other people’s kids to go kill and/or be killed for his horseshit ideals.

All I can say about Cohen is “you jammy bastard”!

where the greatest and most gut-wrenching tests await Obama

ya mean a test like this ?

ironic as f*** that Cohen translates to teacher

How many wars has the US “won” in the last 63 years?

Seems as if we’re 0 and 4 or so.

Shock and awe- man- shock and awe.

I didn’t think a President had to “awe” foreign leaders as much as lead and gain consensus. I’m sure in the case of Bushie, foreign leaders were more likely to think aw shit, even as Cohen was ass kissing.

Torturing and murdering Afghan people for resisting American imperial occupation of their country. (Note: back in 1776, we tried to kill as many British redcoats as possible in our resistance to Imperial English occupation). Sitting with a thumb-in-mouth policy while the American puppet ruler in Kabul stuffs, rigs and steals another “election.” Is President Obama practicing genocide in Afghanistan so ther he can perfect it in Pakistan and Iran?

If a high school football coach had the record of the US military, they’d have been ridden out of town on a rail eons ago. Why do we respect the US military so much?

So, Mr. Cohen, please give us a list of all the other invicible military forces that have won in that “eminently more winnable” locale we know as Afghanistan. I’m waiting.
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Hello?

Cohen is just sharpening his credentials for the Broder position as dumbest pundit around (DPA) when the old man finally kicks off (hard to know if anyone with half a brain will notice).

Another fuckin’ armchair warrior. Takes a lot of balls to tell other people’s kids to go kill and/or be killed for his horseshit ideals.

took the words right off my fingers.

Now fucking white male who has never served (which would include me, incidentally) should ever be allowed to advocate for a war.

Now I’m just trying to figure out the appropriate penalty for those who do so anyway.

heh, the British tried not once but three times. They theoretically won one militarily but lost politically. The first saw the destruction of the British Army in Afghanistan.

Yeppurs, what was it Einstein said, “Trying the same thing…”

The war in Afghanistan is eminently more winnable than was Vietnam

actually, Knut, that kinda sh* should make Starburst Boy nervous about his job security

figure out the appropriate penalty for those who do so anyway

Send ‘em to boot camp.

Why is it that the people who most often use the word “serious” are so frequently the people whom it is impossible to take seriously?

How funny that Richard Cohen should be talking about someone else having the testosterone to get the job done.

There is no one in currently in the US military who has ever won a war as far as I can figure .out- No one. NADA

Back to the cesspool.

Namaste

aw c’mon rw, what about our valiant campaign in Grenada ?

It would be difficult for any President to appear manly when following manly men like Decider Bush and Darth Cheney. Bush exudes manliness, what with all that bike ridin’ and brush clearin’. Just ignore that little horse incident with Vicente Fox. Oh, and the part about not serving in the military when it was his time. Bush is manly, I tells ya.

Maybe that’s because the US only wins when a Bush decides to serve?

Did we win Gulf War One? (the new Super Bowl)

We must learn to replace our bulbs before they fry or leak harmful chemicals into the environment.

Nope. “The end” of Gulf War I led to a decade of bombing Iraq and continually smacking the hornets’ nest. Only to be followed by another invasion of Iraq.

What the hell does Cohen the Barbarian want Obama to do to inspire awe? I guess since Obama after all is black, Cohen wants Obama to pull a Cleavon Little from “Blazing Saddles” and say, ” ’scuse me while I whip this out!”

Cohen is an asshat who rarely, if ever, makes a damn bit of sense. Is Cohen implying that our idiot cowboy president was somehow better because he waved his balls around? How big does Obama’s schlong need to be to impress Cohen?

With such journalistic excellence as Cohen’s filling their pages, is it any wonder that newspapers are dying?

On the other hand, it could be that Cohen’s ”awe-inspiring” theory of foreign affairs is just a made-up, bullshit platitude

That, and your previous question occurred to me. People often assume that how they perceive things is how everyone does. I wonder if Cohen thinks that leaders were in awe of the previous President. Might be a good sanity check.

Obama didn’t win the Olympics last week, but he pwned Tehran.

Actually, both Iran and the West got a good deal. Tehran got some badly-needed enriched uranium, and we got potential cooperation on nuclear proliferation issues.

Richard Cohen is now an expert on Afghanistan and the so-winnable war? What a stoopid gasbag. Anyone with any grasp of the situation advocates a regional (not US-NATO military) solution to Afghanistan’s many problems, including those created by the United States with its AF-Pak war theatre.

Meanwhile Cohen misuses the word “awe” in place of the word “blood-thirsty.”

Cohen should just STFU about Obama and Afghanistan and go about his last week’s plan to punch 74 year-old Polanski in the mouth. Polanski needs it, and Cohen might have a “testosterone moment” that calms him down for a bit…

Actually, both Iran and the West got a good deal.

Agreed.

Shorter Cohen: hey kids, get off of my Good War.

Gee, Richard, was that Saddam’s problem? He didn’t want it badly enough?

based on his zigzagging so far and the suggestion from the Copenhagen trip that the somber seriousness of the presidency has yet to sink in, we have reason to wonder.

The charge of lack of “seriousness” is the Respectable Pundit euphemism for “uppity.”

Shorter Cohen:

“Screw diplomacy, more bombs.”

The US would have a better record if it just bombed the hell out of “the opponent” and then claimed victory and went home. It’s when we stick around that the “victories” become murky.

Wanna win? Leave!

Does he have the stomach and commitment for what is likely to continue to be an unpopular war?

Does he have the support of Mr Cohen and the rest of the GOP for tax increases to pay for the war?

The Taliban is far from universally liked or admired.

Armchair idiots like Cohen will make certain *that* changes…

Cohen what makes you think the war is win able when GW could not do it despite how many years of fighting?

Does he have the stomach and commitment for what is likely to continue to be an unpopular war?

Do the rich have “the stomach and commitment for what is likely to continue to be an unpopular war? ” We gave at the bank bailout!

Chen joins a long list of americans who fear that war will become unpopular- like Hula Hoops- or eight tracks.

People will wake up one morning and say “I dunno- I just can’t get up for it today”

Then what?

That’s why so many blow so much smoke up the military’s ass- What if they get so that they don’t like it anymore?

I assume Cohen has kids or grand kids in the army who want to fight?

Don’t tell me — elementary school classmates never asked Obama to tell jokes. It seems that, according to dumbshit Cohen, is what defines a “man.”

There needs to be a new definition of manly behavior as heartled, heart-compassionate, sane, wise, tolerance, cooperative, and mature human behavior.

As such, Cohen is talking about infantile aggressive uncivilized barbarian behavior, and therefore, isn’t a man at all. Just a murderer. And an adolescent fool.

The adults need to be in charge. The human beings need to claim our planet back from the zombies of ego-mania.

Maybe

maybe even the US army.

I assume the Bush Twins and all the NeoCon kids and grand kids have enlisted?

I agree.

Let the military do whatever it takes. It worked in Japan.

Erm, we’re still in Japan.

I anxiously await Mr. Cohen’s next column on Afghanistan in which he uses the phrases “last throes” and “turned a corner.”

Also. “Mission accomplished.”

But we’re not at war with Japan.

In general, People sort of like war.

Thousands loaded picnic baskets onto horse and buggies to go out and see the first battle of Bull Run.

It didn’t work out so well- but the people’s heart was in the right place.

the USA should have selective service. the bigger a supporter of war, especially a cheerleader, you are, the closer to the front you go. put all your media dicks out there and let them kick ass. and every other back-home war booster too. gender and age are no impediments. you cheer, you go. these things would be over much sooner, let alone start.

His point was,

Wanna win? Leave!

That hasn’t been the case, actually. We stay, even when we win.

Nuking Afghanistan will not produce a “win” because there is no one to “surrender.” You’d just be vaporizing a lot of people for the hell of it.

richard cohen has never served in the military, never mind run a war. wtf does he know?

Anyone with any grasp of the situation advocates a regional (not US-NATO military) solution to Afghanistan’s many problems

What do you suggest? Something better than the last one, I hope. With its 2-3+ million refugees, 800K+ IDPs, 14.4% infant mortality, 10% maternal death in childbirth, humanitarian disaster, and the Pakistanis backing the Taliban while the Indians and Russians backed the NA and the Iranians massed 250K troops on their border, it wasn’t a smashing success in any terms that included seeing human beings live like they were supposed to.

I mean, you may be right about regional. How it will work, though, any thoughts?

Wanna win? Leave!

Then what would Mr. Cohen, or anyone else for that matter, write about?

Winning is boring, and has a very short shelf life journalistically.

The eternal struggle between good and evil – human tragedy – fear of “the enemy” – now there’s some shit to write about, sell papers, and make a nice paycheck.

I would also like to see the media have unfettered access to combat zones. No more of this “embedded” crap. When a few more pictures like this start coming home, it’ll be over sooner than later:

http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/20…..-view.html

That’s a matter of opinion.

Just like we’re not at war with China.

I admire your fortitude in getting through the entire article, I usually can stomach just the first few and last sentences.

There is an implacable persistent theme that runs trough all his columns which is sometimes more or less overt, namely that no expense should be borne by the US to protect Israel. The threatening Israeli foe varies around but includes every country within a 10,000 mile radius extending to China and Korea.

The man is an ill informed one dimensional schmuck that is completely irrelevant along the line of Lieberman and all other Israeli apologists.

Missing from all such commentary is the fact that the US has no business occupying countries where they are not welcome. In this regard the US shares the same delusion as all other occupying forces in failing to realize this glaring fact.

Also most Americans and especially most policy makers assiduously refuse to see or admit that both the US and Israel are party to immense suffering among the Arabs and that this is precisely why the US is and will continue to be under the threat of reprisal motivated attacks. This is not a matter of conjecture because the Arab foes have stated very clearly that this is their motivation. This obvious truth is of course eliminated from consideration at every turn.

To call the campaign in Afghanistan hopeless and pointlees is merely to state the obvious.

True, and I don’t want that.

The problem the last 63 years is the gov that hasn’t had the stones to fight. It’s not a military problem. If congress would “delcare war”, the military could fight, win, and leave, ranther than congress passing resolutions authorizing some funding for some fighting for some amount of time.

We don’t even try to fight to win.

Not an opinion, there’s paperwork to prove it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrender_of_Japan

If polticians weren’t so afraid of getting their ass kicked by the chinese in a land war, we could have had at least two more victories eh?

That’s the last formal war with Japan.

We’re up to our ears in an information and economic war with the rest of the world.

Ever hear of asymmetric warfare?

Was a putz. Is a putz. Always will be a putz.

Whipped cream hair. Wonder how much he pays his stylist for that “do.”

The trouble is that the USA always gets into wars with cowardly opponents who refuse to march out into the open with their AK47s to face the bombing, strafing, and rockets of our military- instead the chickenshits hide out where ya can’t tell who they are and then sneak up on us in the midde of the night….

If we had braver enemies we’d have lots more victories.

Although we were sorta at war with Italy until February, 1947, except that the Italy we were at war with didn’t really exist after Mussolini went to the market.

I detest armchair warmongers. Scum of the earth.

He does sort of look like one of those troll dolls: http://images.google.com/image…..8;resnum=1

Cohen is the Lady Macbeth of US foreign policy.

“Fail? but screw your courage to the sticking point and we’ll not fail” Cohen shrieks as he washes his hands relentlessly.

Out damned spot.

This is all a part of a grand experiment.

Once we figure out how to win or at least properly subjugate Afghanistan we can apply that new found knowledge to Iraq, then Iran and finally Saudi Arabia. Once we’ve licked Saudi Arabia we can figure out who in Saudi Arabia actually committed and or paid for the acts that were apart of 9/11. We can then go back in our time machine and stop it before it happened.

But then, in the new timeline, we will have to come up with an alternate reason for needing to protect all of the oil and oil pipelines.

So long as we’re trying to build a fiction around winning that effectively would require a complete cultural conversion we may as well build a story we can make into a digital effects movie.

We didn’t win in Japan, the Japanese surrendered in no small part because we promised to protect the Emperor from harm and not try him as a war criminal. We also promised to show them our mass production techniques which they already valued highly. Our changes to their culture were fairly minimal. Maybe we could make the same offer using Karzai and offer production improvements for their number one cash crop – heroin. Applying the Japan experiment into Afghanistan is beyond the realm of science fiction.

How many dead are enough?
All of the brown people?
Who’s next in line for this unstoppable
magnificent ‘mercian murder machine ?

cohen another armchair general who never served. But the General who scares me is the one that shot his mouth off in London i am afaide he is just another WESTMORELAND and we all know that for him there never was enough troops even after he got 58,000 of them killed.

How can we continue these wars? All I’ve heard for the last six months is how broke we are. How come all these fiscal conservatives on both sides of the aisle were in hiding for the last eight years? Will they be willing to stand up and insist on a war tax? No they cut taxes in a time of war and bankrupted the nation.

The war in Afghanistan is eminently more winnable than was Vietnam. The Taliban is far from universally liked or admired

What a brilliant insight from a professional foreign policy analyst. The Viet Cong were really nice guys and everyone in South Vietnam liked and admired them. The Taliban, not so much. So — No problem!

For some coherent thoughts on Afghanistan, and to clear your head of Richard Cohen muck, here’s an interview with real journalist and hero Norman Solomon about his recent trip to Afghanistan with Rick Reyes, a veteran and founder of Veterans for Rethining Iraq. http://tr.im/ATnY

I wonder if Cohen thinks that leaders were in awe of the previous President.

That’s the unstated point at the basis of this whole “analysis,” which tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the value of the rest of it.

They’re “fiscal conservatives” if you accept the premise that wars and tax cuts don’t count.

BT BT BT…when will you learn that the point of international relations is to shake down the American people for more taxpayer $$$ for defense contractors?

tsk tsk.

Out damn despot!

Which begs the question, what do we ‘win’ in Afghanistan?

This has, of course, been THE question since Vietnam, when no one could articulate one reason for us to be there other than the vague ‘domino theory.’ And Iraq?

The Republicans and Neocons wouldn’t know “victory” if it bit them on the ass.

Someone please define a military mission that addresses an American vital interest in Afghanistan that can be attained at a reasonable cost in lives and money, and then it should be pretty clear to keep the scorecard.

Until you have an agreed upon mission, all the talk about “winning the war”, “victory” and so forth is without meaning; literally – nonsense.

Why Obama or any other clear thinking American would get dragged into a debate on the subject of victory or winning the war, without first agreeing on the mission and other terms – is beyond me.

That used to be known as A “Declaration of War” authored by congress.
Ah the good old days.

Penis envy.

I realize America’s Concern Troll is usually Attaturk’s beat,

Oh, c’mon BT. I want to see you two duke it out for the privilege of beating up on Richard Cohen.

Are comments allowed @ Cohen’s piece? If so . . . .

Yupper.

Richard Cohen: Putting the “dum” in “Oderint dum metuant”.

get real this is not about winning it is about wars for profits

heard all of this during the nam war

same storied

they will bury us in debt

americans dont care as chinese paying for this one and printed money

it will get worst as we print more money and borrow more

third world status in store for america

not that we dont deserve it

capitalism a love story

how few understand the ill effects of capitalism

the demos dont

file for independent voter status the demos no longer support your beliefs. the swamp needs drained

even jefferson knew that 200 years ago.