Update on Europe’s “Help” in Afghanistan.

Some in the American military have a derogatory nickname for the ISAF, the ackronym for NATO forces. It actually stands for the International Security Assistance Force. But these soldiers suggest it really means “I Saw America Fight.”

Wahoo!

Tribe season starts tomorrow!

Change.

Blackwater’s “gunslingers will continue to guard State Department personnel in Iraq….”

Embarrassing.

h/t – Hot Air

Change.

Barack Obama fails to win Nato troops he wants for Afghanistan:

Barack Obama made an impassioned plea to America’s allies to send more troops to Afghanistan, warning that failure to do so would leave Europe vulnerable to more terrorist atrocities.

But though he continued to dazzle Europeans on his debut international tour, the Continent’s leaders turned their backs on the US President.

Gordon Brown was the only one to offer substantial help. He offered to send several hundred extra British soldiers to provide security during the August election, but even that fell short of the thousands of combat troops that the US was hoping to prise from the Prime Minister.

So Great Britain is the only country to offer the U.S. substantial help, huh? That’s interesting, because as some flunky in the State Department told us, “There’s nothing special about Britain. [It’s] just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. [It] shouldn’t expect special treatment.” Maybe it’s time for the President to state definitively where Great Britain stands with the U.S.

Apparently, the election of a non-moron as president doesn’t impress the Europeans:

The presidential charm offensive failed to move fellow Nato countries. President Sarkozy told Mr Obama that France would not be sending reinforcements to bolster its existing force northeast of Kabul.

Germany, Italy, Poland, Canada and Denmark said that they were considering their positions.

Finally, the President said, “Europe should not simply expect the United States to shoulder that burden alone.” Why not? We’ve been doing it for decades – and Obama’s election does not make Europe any more thankful or helpful.

Who knew?

 h/t – Glenn Reynolds

Socialism We Can Believe In.

“When in the future — or I would say, if in the future — banks need exceptional assistance in order to get through this, then we’ll make sure that assistance comes with conditions, not just to protect the taxpayer, but to make sure this is the kind of restructuring necessary for them to emerge stronger,” [Treasury Secretary Timothy] Geithner said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “Where that requires a change of management and the board, we will do that.”

Responding to criticism that the Obama Administration is being tougher on the automobile industry than the financial industry, Mr. Geithner, according to the Wall Street Journal, “pointed to the Bush administration’s treatment of executives and board members at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and American International Group Inc., to which the government gave major financial assistance over the last several months.”

I thought we were moving past the failed policies of the last eight years.