Security Blankets

You might think that our military/government officials are department chairs at a university. Running the art department is Major General William Caldwell, while the department of obstetrics and gynecology is headed up by Sec. of State Rice. And today from NPR today I learned that NATO is running the arts and crafts section specializing in a security blanket for Afghanistan.

Ivan Watson reporting on Afghanistan's further descent into violence does mention that 3,000 people have died in Afghanistan this year and that NATO has been critcized for excessive force. But in typical fashion, we mainly hear about "at least 55 Tabliban fighters" and "at least another 50 Taliban fighters dead" with no first hand evidence to back up such figures. Watson also reports on the killing of 80 people in a Pakistani madrassa -- asserting that it was carried out by Pakistan (which is not known) and describing the dead as "suspected pro-Taliban militants" even though no independent investigation has been done.