In deciding what to do in Afghanistan, President Obama faces more than the question of how many troops. It's the clout of the military in a society where the civilian government is supposed to be in charge. After all, it took a former general, President Dwight Eisenhower, to coin the term "military-industrial complex." Also, a UN report pushes Afghan officials to call for a run-off election, and coverage of the boy who turned out not to be in the balloon. Did cable news report on a fraud or perpetrate one?
Banner image: US General Stanley McChrystal (R) arriving at the Baraki Barak Joint combat Outpost (JCOP) in Logar Province, Afghanistan on on September 21, 2009. Photo: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images