Good morning. It's a beautiful Sunday.
This morning's edition of The New York Times has a powerful story entitled Even as Loved Ones Fight On, War Doubts Arise. You should give it a look. It examines the rapid decline in the morale of our service members and their families.
Among military members and their immediate families who responded to a national New York Times/CBS News poll in May, two-thirds said things were going badly, compared with just over half, about 53 percent, a year ago. Fewer than half of the families and military members said the United States did the right thing in invading Iraq. A year ago more than half held that view, according to the a similar poll taken last July. The May poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 7 percentage points.The story puts a human face on the statistics. Beth Pyritz, a 27 year old mother of five, told Times reporter Ian Urbina
I voted for Bush twice. I backed this war from the beginning, but I don’t think I can look my kids in the eyes anymore, if my husband comes home in a wooden box, and tell them he died for a good reason.If you want more to think about this morning, you might also want to read The Observer's sober assessment of the potential for failure in Afghanistan.
Britain's most senior generals have issued a blunt warning to Downing Street that the military campaign in Afghanistan is facing a catastrophic failure, a development that could lead to an Islamist government seizing power in neighbouring Pakistan.The nature of that threat? Well, contemplate jihadists with real nukes.
Amid fears that London and Washington are taking their eye off Afghanistan as they grapple with Iraq, the generals have told Number 10 that the collapse of the government in Afghanistan, headed by Hamid Karzai, would present a grave threat to the security of Britain.
In a related story The New York Times has a report on the surge of violence in the tribal regions of Pakistan where Osami Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri walk free.
If you don't like all the doom and gloom you might want to join Kevin Drum and go straight to the crossword. Enjoy your Sunday morning coffee.
