More Afghan cuts, more war

What is the logic behind the Obama administration’s policy toward Afghanistan? On its face, it makes no sense.In 2009, President Obama ordered a major buildup of forces to counter alarming gains by the Taliban and the Haqqani network. The number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan increased from 34,000 when he took office to nearly 100,000 in 2010. To oversee the buildup he sent two top Army generals, Stanley A. McChrystal and then David H. Petraeus, to design and implement a comprehensive counterinsu

March 1, 2012

In praise of Covin and other war correspondents

Marie Colvin and I covered our first combat together in 1986, after the U.S. bombed Libya. She was 30, pretty, ambitious and talented. She soon had Col. Moammar Gadhafi and his aides in her thrall and parlayed her many scoops for United Press International into a job as a foreign correspondent for the Sunday Times of London.I last saw her a year ago, in Cairo during the revolution. Three decades of bearing witness to war showed in her face: I recognized her only from her black eye patch, which s

March 1, 2012

Making digital content pirates go legitimate

It seems cosmically appropriate that gambling house odds are on “The Artist” to win this year’s Academy Award for best picture. The Weinstein Co.’s paean to the end of the silent movie era is an apt metaphor for an industry upended by new technologies. Whether or not “The Artist” gets an Oscar statuette, the film can teach Hollywood an important lesson: Once technical barriers are broken, they can never be rebuilt. The arrival of talkies required the industry to rethink an antiquated business mo

Feb. 29, 2012

Wall Street confesses to bonus culture ills

Imagine if you could hear directly, albeit anonymously, from the normally secretive bankers and traders who manufactured and sold the trillions of dollars in toxic debt securities that pushed the world’s financial system to the brink of disaster in 2008. Would they defend themselves and their actions, or show a degree of remorse for what they caused and have not been held accountable for? Well, you can find the answer to that question in “Conversations With Wall Street,” a compact ― and largely

Feb. 29, 2012

China-Taiwan tensions could loom over U.S. ‘pivot’ to Asia

Should the U.S. be willing to sacrifice Los Angeles for Taipei? It’s horrendous to contemplate, but it’s the kind of question that underlies a simmering debate over U.S. policy toward Taiwan. As China’s economic and military power grows, and Taiwan’s long-term future remains unclear, that debate deserves a wider airing. The tension, and the stakes, will only increase as the Obama administration undertakes its much-trumpeted “pivot” to Asia. Taiwan didn’t surface as a big issue in Chinese Vice Pr

Feb. 29, 2012

[Kim Seong-kon] Turned into the bandit and the fire fox by marriage

Comparing marriage customs is often a great way to explore cultural variation between different parts of the world. In many Western countries, weddings are a personal celebration of the bride and the groom, joined by parents, relatives and friends. In Korea, a wedding is more like a community celebration, a public matter between two families, rather than a private occasion for the couple.In the United States, therefore, the bride and groom’s guest list is often filled with friends. In Korea, how

Feb. 28, 2012

Hannah and her father

Perhaps you‘ve heard of Tommy Jordan. He’s the North Carolina dad who recently recorded a video of himself reading and responding to a Facebook post composed by his 15-year-old daughter, Hannah, after which he shot her computer nine times with a .45 pistol.Hannah had done what 15-year-olds have been doing since time immemorial: She complained to her friends, in this case in rather foul-mouthed terms, about household chores and the overall lameness of her parents. Her dad, in turn, did what paren

Feb. 28, 2012

Should President Obama be allowed to keep his baton?

Gen. George S. Patton -- that old “Blood and Guts” philosopher himself -- once said, “We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.”Most Republicans would love for President Barack Obama to get out of their way. Yes, exit stage left, please.But most black folk would want him to lead for four more years. Try to the tune of 96 percent black voter support in 2008, according to Politico.com.But should they? As we celebrate Black History Month, should black

Feb. 28, 2012

Greek deal leaves Europe on the road to disaster

If Europe’s new plan for Greece succeeds, nobody will be more surprised than the politicians who designed it. At best, the arrangement is a holding action, one that fails yet again to deal with the much larger confidence crisis facing the euro area. The deal announced on Tuesday starts with private lenders. Their representatives agreed to accept even bigger losses on Greek government bonds than previously discussed. The bonds’ face value will be cut by 53.5 percent, and they’ll pay a low interes

Feb. 27, 2012

The worse the economy gets, the longer people live

A weak labor market, like the one we’ve experienced since the financial crisis in 2008, imposes enormous stress on people. Given the added anxiety created by a weak economy, you might think life expectancy would decline. Oddly, though, during recessions, exactly the opposite tends to happen: Life expectancy rises. It’s happening again now. The age-adjusted death rate in the U.S. declined by 2 percent from 2007 to 2010, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Preven

Feb. 27, 2012

Greek deal leaves Europe on the road to disaster

If Europe’s new plan for Greece succeeds, nobody will be more surprised than the politicians who designed it. At best, the arrangement is a holding action, one that fails yet again to deal with the much larger confidence crisis facing the euro area. The deal announced on Tuesday starts with private lenders. Their representatives agreed to accept even bigger losses on Greek government bonds than previously discussed. The bonds’ face value will be cut by 53.5 percent, and they’ll pay a low interes

Feb. 27, 2012

Maximize fracking potential by solving safety problems

Anything as big and as promising as shale gas is bound to be complicated. This energy source has much to recommend it. To begin with, the U.S. has a lot of it, enough to meet current natural gas consumption for 35 years. The increase in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the technique used to tap natural gas from shale, brought down the fuel’s price by 32 percent last year, to less than $3 per million Btu. Expanding the practice ― to New York State, for example, which now has a moratorium on it

Feb. 26, 2012