The Financial Times reports that the U.S. military is starting to soften its anti-Taliban policy in view of the reality that it does not possess sufficient troops to control the entire country on behalf of the weak central government of Hamid Karzai.

The US military supports Afghan government efforts to court moderate members of the former Taliban regime in a strategy to win political support in the troubled south, the leading US commander in Afghanistan has said.

General David Barno, commander of the US-led military coalition that is hunting al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in Afghanistan, called government overtures towards the moderates a “terrific effort”, but denied the US military was directly involved in talks.

“It’s a hugely important initiative that will help fracture the Taliban movement and bring the Taliban who are not criminals back into the realm of active Afghan society,” Gen Barno said in an interview with the Financial Times.

His comments reflect a shift in the US posture towards the former hardline regime and a change in strategy as it turns to political tactics and reconstruction, rather than solely military means, to counter Taliban insurgency.

“If you’re a rank and file Taliban member and you reject your past . . . then you can become part of the future of Afghanistan,” said Gen Barno. He believes there are between 100 and 150 Taliban leaders who were “essentially criminals”.

A reliable Pentagon source has told me for months that the Bush Administration is beginning to realize that Afghanistan will be Talibanized one way or another. Since a return to 2001 conditions seems more or less inevitable, U.S. planners are starting to consider negotiating a friendlier relationship than the one that prevailed before the October 2001 war. The first step to reaching an accomodation with the radical Islamist clerics we accused of harboring Osama bin Laden is cooperating with mid-level Talibs. If that works out well from the American standpoint, high-level Taliban leaders like Mullah Mohammad Omar could be in control–with U.S. approval–of such provinces as Helmand as early as 2005.

The Bush Administration, as I wrote in my book “To Afghanistan and Back” and subsequent columns, was never seriously dedicated to the occupation of Afghanistan or in establishing a viable post-invasion regime in Kabul. Many Central Asia watchers expect Afghanistan to be fully back into Taliban, or Taliban-like, control within about three years. The Defense Department’s new accomodationism would seem to be a first step towards withdrawal.

2004 Book Tours and Appearances

I’m starting to put together book signing tours for my upcoming books WAKE UP YOU’RE LIBERAL and GENERALISSIMO EL BUSHO, due out in April and June, as well as speaking appearances related to the elections. If you or someone you know is interested in bringing me to your city, now’s a good time to let me know. Send me an e-mail and let’s work something out!

We’re All Judged by Our Enemies

I’d like to (sniff) thank my cat…the food I ate…my dead friends…everyone who made it possible for me to be named No. 1 Most Annoying Liberal by the Right Wing News blogger site! This is the second year in a row that this list, which travels around the Usenet faster than the I Love You virus, has been compiled by the friendly fascists, but the first time that I beat out such worthies as Michael Moore (#2), Gov. Howard Dean (#3), Nobel Prize winning President Jimmy Carter (#7), Al Franken (#15) and yes, the Dixie Chicks (#20)!

The best part is reading the justifications for each entry. It seems that, to these brave teenagers, anyone with an original thought in his or her head is a danger to the republic. I’ve won many awards, but this is one is nearly as good as a Pulitzer Prize!

Will I make the list next year? Just wait until these goofs read my upcoming book WAKE UP, YOU’RE LIBERAL: HOW WE CAN TAKE AMERICA BACK FROM THE RIGHT (Soft Skull Press, April 2004)!

USA Patriot Act II Partly Enacted

Thanks to FOR Russ Williams for forwarding this interesting tidbit from the San Antonio Current alt weekly newspaper. Generalissimo El Busho, it seems, took advantage of the Saddam capture hype to sneak part of the neofascist USA-Patriot Act II legislation into law without the trouble of unseemly public debate.

A brief cut:

The Bush Administration and its Congressional allies tucked away these new executive powers in the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, a legislative behemoth that funds all the intelligence activities of the federal government. The Act included a simple, yet insidious, redefinition of “financial institution,” which previously referred to banks, but now includes stockbrokers, car dealerships, casinos, credit card companies, insurance agencies, jewelers, airlines, the U.S. Post Office, and any other business “whose cash transactions have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax, or regulatory matters.”

Saddam in Custody, US Less Safe Than Ever

Among the silliest of charges leveled at Democratic presidential nominee apparent Howard Dean is that he somehow mispoke when he remarked that the capture of former CIA errand boy Saddam Hussein–nothing more than the latest chapter of a lengthy labor-management dispute if you think about it–hasn’t made Americans any safer, whether in Iraq from local resistants or here in the U.S., from terrorists.

With news of U.S. troops continuing to come under heavy fire in Iraq, it’s time for former contenders like Dick Gephardt and John Kerry–both worthy men who would have made fine opponents to Generalissimo El Busho had they not already lost–to stop criticizing Dean for speaking something that’s so plainly true. Dean’s plainspokenness, after all, is what has brought him so far. It’s also time they drop out of the race and endorse Dean.

A Guide to Today’s Cartoon

Not every cartoon works. Some are so obtuse that no one gets it; to wit this week’s offering “The Triumph.” The original idea was to show Bush having captured Saddam but himself being trapped by the war itself. So I drew two Iraqi jihadis celebrating as Condi and Colin were forced to drag a cage containing Bush and Saddam, the latter held in chains by the former.

Still don’t get it?

You’re not alone. Looks like I blew it. Probably has something to do with all the Nyquil I’ve been taking for this godawful bug.

Now Hear This: Ted on Athens GA Radio on Xmas + 1

“In the fight against radio fascism, at least one liberal beacon has emerged victorious on the AM airwaves. Dan Matthews has hosted an hour long live call in talk show in the Athens, Georgia market on NewsTalk 1340 WGAU (AM) since August and has ruffled the feathers of ne’er-do-wells such as Senator Zell Miller and assorted other conservatives. So far we are unaware of any way to get it on the computer, but if you are within 20 miles of the University of Georgia in Athens, you should be able to hear award winning author and illustrator Ted Rall this Friday morning, 9-10 am EDT, along with 12th district congressional candidate John Barrow, who has raised more money for this Georgia race than any other U.S. congressional candidate at this point. Should you want to call in a question for Ted Rall, dial 706-549-8255 between 9:06 and 9:20 am Friday, December 26, 2003. Thanks for your interest. “

Now back to bed.

Happy Holidaze

I’m sick as a dog and, in any case, busy being festive and stuff. I’ll be away from the blog pretty much until Dec. 30.

The Ted and Jerry Show

I’ll be discussing the Sen. John Kerry cursing “scandal” and the corsening of our society with the Rev. Jerry Falwell on CNBC TV tonight, 6:15 Eastern Standard Time.

It’s Good to be King, a.k.a., It’s Nice Being Loved, sung to the tune of “We’re So Popular”

We’re winning so many hearts and minds in Iraq it’s just incredible:

U.S. Hunts for Militants North of Baghdad

By ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC, Associated Press Writer

SAMARRA, Iraq – Using sledgehammers, crowbars, explosives and armored vehicles, U.S. forces smashed down the gates of homes and the doors of workshops and junkyards Wednesday to attack the Iraqi resistance that has persisted despite the capture of Saddam Hussein.

In Baghdad, guerrillas ambushed a U.S. military patrol with small arms fire, killing one soldier from the 1st Armored Division and injuring another, the military said.

The soldier’s death brings the number of U.S. soldiers killed in combat to 314 as violence persists after Saddam was detained on Saturday.

Staff Sgt. Kimberly A. Voelz, 27, of Carlisle, Pa., was killed Sunday in Iskandariyah, Iraq , as her unit was responding to an explosive ordinance disposal call, the Defense Department said.

A soldier assigned to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) was killed Tuesday in a vehicle accident southwest of Mosul, Iraq. Some 144 soldiers have died of non-hostile causes, according to the Pentagon.

The raid, launched before dawn and lasting until midmorning, targeted the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad.

Loud blasts mixed with the sound of women and children screaming inside the houses. An explosion at the gate of one compound shattered windows, cutting a 1-year-old baby with glass. U.S. medics treated the injury while other soldiers handcuffed four men, who were later released.

U.S. officials say some 1,500 fighters operate in Samarra, making it one of the persistent hotspots in the so-called Sunni Triangle.

“Samarra has been a little bit of a thorn in our side,” said Col. Nate Sassaman. “It hasn’t come along as quickly as other cities in the rebuilding of Iraq. This operation is designed to bring them up to speed.”

In the Samarra raid by some 2,500 troops, dubbed Operation Ivy Blizzard, the 4th Infantry Division and Iraqi forces detained at least a dozen suspected guerrillas — though others got away, apparently tipped off about the raid.

In the city’s industrial zone, troops used even their Bradley fighting vehicles to break down the doors of warehouses, workshops and junkyards.

“Locksmiths will make a lot of money these days,” said a U.S. soldier, laughing as he sat atop a Bradley.

“They’ve made a mistake to attack U.S. forces,” Sassaman said. “No one knows the town better than we do. We’re gonna clean this place.”

In Wednesday’s sweep, soldiers used satellite positioning devices to locate buildings pre-marked as targets.

As Apache helicopters flew overhead, troops downtown fanned out in squads of 14 to storm several walled residential compounds, using plastic explosives to break in.

At one home, an explosion ignited a small fire. Elsewhere, a suspect was punched in the head and a soldier said: “You’re dead. You’re dead.”

Troops later moved on to the industrial area, where they found little. One military official said he suspected insurgents moved much of their equipment to farms outside town.