3-09-2009

Greyhawk: Remember the Iraq drawdown you heard about last month? The one where a Brigade originally scheduled for Iraq was going to Afghanistan instead? Well, funny thing about that…

Ed Morrissey: I’m not sure which is worse.  At least if he meant to snub Brown, it would suggest a certain competence at this brand of diplomacy.  Instead, we’re told that the Obama White House and their staff are just a bunch of incompetents who got in over their heads.

Vodkapundit: Overworked, undertaxedpaid. If I went in for conspiracy theories, I’d have to wonder if Geithner is supposed to fail. He’s got no senior help, thanks to a “broken” vetting process, and no plan, thanks to… uh… well, I don’t honestly know why someone in his position and with his experience has no plan. Which brings us back to the conspiracy theory: The less Geithner accomplishes, the more of a crisis President Obama and Rahm Emanuel have to take advantage of.

TigerHawk: Hollywood actress Maria Conchita Alonso says what nobody else is willing to — that the glitterati who legitimize Hugo Chavez do not know what they are talking about.

Richard Fernandez: The NYT describes President Obama’s thinking on the Taliban. “Mr. Obama said on the campaign trail last year that the possibility of breaking away some elements of the Taliban “should be explored,” …administration officials have criticized the Pakistani government for its own reconciliation deal with local Taliban leaders in the Swat Valley, where Islamic law has been imposed and radical figures hold sway.” And now he’s going to try the same thing. Will it work? Maybe. But the devil is in the details or in the lack of attention to them.

Filed under: Chip by Chip