What Caught My Eye Today

Afghanistan - I have a two-fer for you today. Maybe the news will be good for a change. President Barack Obama heard the opinions of the Pentagon top brass on a commander's troop request for Afghanistan. Army General Stanley McChrystal said the war was deteriorating and he recommended as many as 40,000 more U.S. troops for Afghanistan along with a major effort to train Afghan security forces and improve relations with Afghan civilians. Obama and his national security team have been debating options for weeks, ranging from a massive troop increase to a strategy that relies less on troop numbers and more on unmanned drone aircraft to attack al Qaeda targets that are mostly located in Pakistan. The president has dismissed charges from some conservatives, such as former Vice President Dick Cheney, that he has been dithering over what to do about the 8-year-old war while a Taliban offensive has continued apace and U.S. casualties have increased. I'm leaning toward siding with Obama on this one, but not for the reason that you may think. One could argue that after 8 years and no sort of victory on the horizon, that a serious re-thinking of strategy is long overdue. Perhaps. No, I'm siding with Obama mostly because Dick Cheney has taken the opposing view. And if Cheney is of the opinion that Obama is doing something wrong, then, to me, that is a clear sign that Obama is on the right track to success.

Still that doesn't exactly qualify as good news does it? Let's look at the second Afghan headline de jour. Surely, that will contain good news.

Election talks between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his rival Abdullah Abdullah have broken down and Abdullah said likely announce he will boycott the November 7 run-off vote. Or not. The run-off between Karzai and Abdullah was triggered by a U.N.-led investigation into the first round of voting in August that found widespread fraud in favor of Karzai and comes as U.S. President Barack Obama weighs whether to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan. And here's where we add insult to injury. Part of Obama's logic for not announcing a new U.S. strategy in Afghanistan is that he wants to get the Afghan government (whoever that might be) on board with the plan that he rolls out. Rightly so, any strategy that the U.S. tries to implement must include the support of the Afghan government and the people it represents. If this election mess isn't sorted out, then it won't really matter what strategy Obama goes with, because it will probably be doomed to fail.

Colombia - Colombia and the United States signed an agreement Friday that allows U.S. personnel to be stationed at seven military bases in the South American nation. The United States says it needs the bases to help in its fight against terrorists and narcotraffickers, especially since the closure a few months ago of a U.S. base in Ecuador. The United States maintains similar "forward operating locations" in El Salvador and Aruba-Curacao. I'll give you three guesses--but you'll only need one--as to who got his knickers in a bunch after the deal was announced. Colombia's agreement to host the Americans has come under harsh criticism in Latin America, particularly from President Hugo Chavez in neighboring Venezuela. Chavez has likened the agreement to an act of war and accuses the United States of wanting to stage military personnel nearby to destabilize his leftist government. Dude, I think you can destabilize your own government without any help from us. The United States linked Colombia's agreement to a trade pact the South American nation wants. Colombia also stands to gain from U.S. help in the nation's 45-year-old war against Marxist guerrillas known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, commonly called FARC. From where I sit, anything that pisses off Chavez is justification enough to proceed with it. I suppose that other stuff--you know, trade and national security--is all well and good, but you had me sold with the Chavez hissy fit.

Poland - A crew member aboard a U.S. Navy ship accidentally fired a machine gun into the Polish port city of Gdynia on Wednesday while cleaning the weapon. Don't you just hate it when you are doing your job, minding your own business, then BAM, you start an international incident. Three rounds were fired from an M240 machine gun, aboard the USS Ramage, a Navy destroyer, into the town but no injuries or damage were reported. That's good, but I still think this dude is going to find himself peeling a lot of potatoes after this episode.

We'll wrap up with this little gem, carrying on with that nautical theme...

Cruise Ships - There's a personal connection to this story.The world's largest cruise ship (5 times larger than the Titanic) is finally finished and began its trip toward its home port in Florida. The Oasis of the Seas has 2,700 cabins and can accommodate 6,300 passengers and 2,100 crew members. Company officials are banking that its novelty will help guarantee its success. The enormous ship features various "neighborhoods" — parks, squares and arenas with special themes. One of them will be a tropical environment, including palm trees and vines among the total 12,000 plants on board. They will be planted after the ship arrives in Fort Lauderdale. In the stern, a 750-seat outdoor theater — modeled on an ancient Greek amphitheater — doubles as a swimming pool by day and an ocean front theater by night. The pool has a diving tower with spring boards and two 33-foot high-dive platforms. An indoor theater seats 1,300 guests. So about that personal connection--here it is. I'm going to be this gargantuan tub next February. Sure, this ship is bordering on absurdly big (click here), but call me crazy; I'd rather be here with 6,300 other nut cases than trolling away at my day job.