It's Yesterday Once More

Nineteen sixty-five. It's 44 years ago. I was eleven -- a fine age for building model airplanes, riding the bicycle, and generally getting up to no good. An Arizona Republican senator had just failed to win the U.S. presidency. The Democrat who defeated him inherited a war, and set out to teach us a new meaning of the word "escalate."

My, how things change -- while staying the same, sort of.

Lyndon Baines Obama has just been told by his favorite general that victory is at hand -- assuming that we escalate. Otherwise, failure:

The US mission in Afghanistan will "likely result in failure" unless troops are increased within a year, the top general there has said in a report.

Gen Stanley McChrystal made his assessment in a copy of a confidential report obtained by the Washington Post.

He recently called for a revised military strategy in Afghanistan, suggesting the current one is failing.

More than 30,000 extra US troops have been sent to Afghanistan since May - almost doubling the US contingent.

The number of US troops in Afghanistan is already set to rise to 68,000 by the end of the year.

Stark concerns have previously been expressed about the viability of the military mission in Afghanistan, but the BBC's Paul Reynolds says what is new about the general's warning is his outright use of the word "failure".

Come on, Americans -- you've got to try to kite some more loans from foreigners so you can go on pounding your collective thumb with that hammer. Otherwise ... oh, no! Failure! Oh, the horrors, the horrors.