Flit

It's Iraq, too, apparently

Wash. Post:

"Iraqis enjoy some sense of civility with us here," Blauser said later. "It's time for the Iraqis to step up. If they don't, it'll be one hell of a mess when troops leave. Honestly, I don't see how the Iraqi army can gain credibility when they have petty thieves stealing from families of disabled children in their ranks."

At one time I might have been baffled why two-thirds of a shipment of custom tools only useful for the single purpose of adjusting a pediatric wheelchair might "disappear" in the course of a indigenous military's humanitarian aid mission. Now, not so much.

The McKiernan replacement

On the sudden departure of the senior general in Afghanistan, Bill and Bob already said everything worth saying:

"I think it's more about the message than the man...

"I recently asked in the comments on Abu Muqawama if there had been a single maneuver force commander who had suffered any negative impact on his career due to the degradation of security in Afghanistan or Iraq. There had not been. Battalion and brigade commanders came back from the theaters of combat having visibly lost ground, or having failed to make progress, with medals and nice new assignments including promotions. Apparently, that has now changed."

See also Abu M.