Aw heck Salmo, you want me to read the article. tee hee. It's interesting that when a link is posted the tickles someone's nerve endings, a response is generated. In other cases a from the heart comment is a bit of ephemera.
At any rate Newbold raises some interesting points and then drops back into the rhetoric game too often. I think they shoud have gone in with a lot more manpower, I think eliminating the Iraqi Army was a mistake. I also think that the terrain in Afghanistan does not lend itself to large scale operations. More commando and spec ops territory with call up assets when needed. Some folks need a scape goat. Rhummy fits the need. Since they have a while to wait to dump Bush. Any port in a storm.
I'm auditing, no grade needed or expected.
Terrorism has existed for centuries and will continue to exist for many more centuries. The most useful thing you can do with a terrorist is turn him, or retire him, martyr seems to be the current euphemism.