My good buddy forwarded me a column by Ralph Peters that appeared in the January 27 New York Post, drawing parallels between Afghanistan and Vietnam.
It’s a caution to the Obama administration to avoid LBJ’s mistake of thinking that pouring in money and troops will pacify the country.
You can read the whole thing here: http://www.nypost.com/seven/01272009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/afghan_nam_blues_152197.htm.
The essence is captured in a few paragraphs:
If our goal is to turn Afghanistan into a rule-of-law democracy, forget it. Iraq has an outside shot - it’s a semi-modern society - although success is far from guaranteed. But a modernized Afghan state whose authority extends into every remote valley is an impossibility.
If, however, our goal is only to prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a massive terrorist mother-ship, we can do that - and at a lower cost. But we’d have to have the guts to choose sides among factions and stop pretending that we’re honest brokers...
Inherently, this one’s a special-operations war. A sounder long-term approach would be fewer troops on the ground - and far less reliance on vulnerable supply routes through Pakistan. Regular combat units have a role to play, but as punitive strike forces, not a vast neighborhood watch (this is not Iraq).
Ditch the claptrap that we can’t kill our way out of this: Well-focused killing, for decades, is our only chance - and Afghanistan’s. And dump the feel-good platitudes. In the real world off-campus, good marksmanship trumps good will.
I think this guy’s right. We need to focus solely on “prevent(ing) Afghanistan from again becoming a massive terrorist mother-ship” and do it smart and on the cheap. If that means backing some unsavory characters, fine. As long as they’re our unsavory characters.
Back to real politick, please.
Jim Cornelius, Editor
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Turmoil at the Chamber II
Erin Borla has taken the helm at the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce. She’s got a lot of rake and shovel work ahead of her.
Having worked with Erin for six years when she was the director of the Sisters Folk Festival, I can vouch for her abilities as an organizer, for her capacity to get things done. She’s just what the Chamber needs if it is going to be relevant — or even continue to exist.
That is an issue that is still in doubt. Todd Dow’s request to have the City cut off room tax funding to the Chamber is a swipe at the jugular. The City Council isn’t going to act precipitously on the request; they’ll give the Chamber the chance to pull it together.
But Dow’s move and the support it is garnering in the community (see Letters in The Nugget this week) should be sufficient warning to the Chamber: hiring Erin is the organization’s last, best chance. Credibility is hanging by a thread and if the Chamber doesn’t show some direction and movement, it will be cast upon the ash heap of history.
I have confidence in Erin Borla’s abilities. It seems that the board does, too. The key now will be for the Chamber Board of Directors to give her room to move, support to take action and time to make the organization work as it’s supposed to.
We should see some real progress in the next 90 days. If not, Erin should look elsewhere and the community should, too.
Jim Cornelius, Editor
Having worked with Erin for six years when she was the director of the Sisters Folk Festival, I can vouch for her abilities as an organizer, for her capacity to get things done. She’s just what the Chamber needs if it is going to be relevant — or even continue to exist.
That is an issue that is still in doubt. Todd Dow’s request to have the City cut off room tax funding to the Chamber is a swipe at the jugular. The City Council isn’t going to act precipitously on the request; they’ll give the Chamber the chance to pull it together.
But Dow’s move and the support it is garnering in the community (see Letters in The Nugget this week) should be sufficient warning to the Chamber: hiring Erin is the organization’s last, best chance. Credibility is hanging by a thread and if the Chamber doesn’t show some direction and movement, it will be cast upon the ash heap of history.
I have confidence in Erin Borla’s abilities. It seems that the board does, too. The key now will be for the Chamber Board of Directors to give her room to move, support to take action and time to make the organization work as it’s supposed to.
We should see some real progress in the next 90 days. If not, Erin should look elsewhere and the community should, too.
Jim Cornelius, Editor
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Turmoil at the Chamber
Things are not good over at the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce.
The board announced last Friday that Executive Director Cherie Ferguson had resigned after nine months on the job. Ferguson told me last Sunday that she didn’t resign.
It’s unclear what this all means at this point, whether Ferguson will attempt to stay in the position with new board members coming on or if the board is firing her or what, exactly.
What is clear is that the Chamber needs to reevaluate what it’s doing. Sisters is looking at several years of tough economic times. Now more than ever we need an organization that is firing on all cylinders, attracting visitors to town and providing them the resources to get the most out of their time here.
The Chamber needs to take a hard, honest look at itself — what it can do well and what it cannot do. There seems to be an impetus for creating an economic development director position in Sisters. What will be the Chamber’s role?
Marketing Sisters to the rest of the state, the nation, the world, is going to be critical in the coming years as Sisters falls back on its main industry: tourism. If marketing Sisters effectively is beyond the financial and organizational capacity of the Chamber, it needs to acknowledge that this is so and make room for some other organization or coalition to do the work.
There are many fine people involved with the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce and the failure of the organization to set a productive direction or gain any traction is not a reflection upon them as individuals. But the organization as a whole is not functioning the way it should and it needs to be fixed, revamped or scrapped — and right now.
Sisters needs and deserves more.
Jim Cornelius, Editor
The board announced last Friday that Executive Director Cherie Ferguson had resigned after nine months on the job. Ferguson told me last Sunday that she didn’t resign.
It’s unclear what this all means at this point, whether Ferguson will attempt to stay in the position with new board members coming on or if the board is firing her or what, exactly.
What is clear is that the Chamber needs to reevaluate what it’s doing. Sisters is looking at several years of tough economic times. Now more than ever we need an organization that is firing on all cylinders, attracting visitors to town and providing them the resources to get the most out of their time here.
The Chamber needs to take a hard, honest look at itself — what it can do well and what it cannot do. There seems to be an impetus for creating an economic development director position in Sisters. What will be the Chamber’s role?
Marketing Sisters to the rest of the state, the nation, the world, is going to be critical in the coming years as Sisters falls back on its main industry: tourism. If marketing Sisters effectively is beyond the financial and organizational capacity of the Chamber, it needs to acknowledge that this is so and make room for some other organization or coalition to do the work.
There are many fine people involved with the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce and the failure of the organization to set a productive direction or gain any traction is not a reflection upon them as individuals. But the organization as a whole is not functioning the way it should and it needs to be fixed, revamped or scrapped — and right now.
Sisters needs and deserves more.
Jim Cornelius, Editor
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
The Wild East
I grew up fascinated by the Wild West. My first heroes were frontiersmen and the history of the mountain men, the scouts, the buffalo hunters shaped my whole life. They led me to Sisters, wanting to live among woods, streams and mountains in a vestige of the bygone frontier.
My explorations of frontiers took me to other lands that experienced similar conditions — South Africa, Australia, the British Northwest Frontier in what is now Pakistan.
But of late I’ve become obsessed with another frontier — one that remained “wild” for centuries and saw the greatest scale of human conflict in human history: The Wild East. Russia, Ukraine, Poland.
What an incredible history. My family just finished watching “With Fire and Sword,” a 1999 filming of a classic Polish historical novel recounting the 1647-48 uprising of the Ukrainian Cossacks against the Polish-Lithuanian nobles. Poland was then the most powerful nation in Central Europe. A decade of strife would fatally weaken her. Great movie, even better book.
I’ve been reading about the Russo-Polish War in 1921 and how the Poles stopped the Red Army from conquering Warsaw, which could have opened the floodgates to the Bolsheviks, allowing them to penetrate into Germany.
Wendy Holzman of Sisters put me in touch with her daughter, who is studying for a PhD, focusing on the Soviet Partisan movement during World War II. I'm looking forward to some lively e-mail discussions on this rich topic. How I envy her discovering all this at a young age! There's a lifetime's worth of history to mine!
This is some of the most dramatic stuff I’ve ever encountered, played out on a scale that almost dwarfs the imagination. Over vast geographic distances, over steppe, river and mountain, cultures clashed for centuries, now fighting, now trading, intermingling, conquering and receding. And it continued to play out into the 20th Century. You can still see it playing out right now, as Russia rises again and reasserts its "Eurasian" identity.
It’s heady stuff and it’s history few in the West know. The Wild East. Much wilder than anything I knew of before, for much longer. For me, a new frontier to explore.
Jim Cornelius, Editor
My explorations of frontiers took me to other lands that experienced similar conditions — South Africa, Australia, the British Northwest Frontier in what is now Pakistan.
But of late I’ve become obsessed with another frontier — one that remained “wild” for centuries and saw the greatest scale of human conflict in human history: The Wild East. Russia, Ukraine, Poland.
What an incredible history. My family just finished watching “With Fire and Sword,” a 1999 filming of a classic Polish historical novel recounting the 1647-48 uprising of the Ukrainian Cossacks against the Polish-Lithuanian nobles. Poland was then the most powerful nation in Central Europe. A decade of strife would fatally weaken her. Great movie, even better book.
I’ve been reading about the Russo-Polish War in 1921 and how the Poles stopped the Red Army from conquering Warsaw, which could have opened the floodgates to the Bolsheviks, allowing them to penetrate into Germany.
Wendy Holzman of Sisters put me in touch with her daughter, who is studying for a PhD, focusing on the Soviet Partisan movement during World War II. I'm looking forward to some lively e-mail discussions on this rich topic. How I envy her discovering all this at a young age! There's a lifetime's worth of history to mine!
This is some of the most dramatic stuff I’ve ever encountered, played out on a scale that almost dwarfs the imagination. Over vast geographic distances, over steppe, river and mountain, cultures clashed for centuries, now fighting, now trading, intermingling, conquering and receding. And it continued to play out into the 20th Century. You can still see it playing out right now, as Russia rises again and reasserts its "Eurasian" identity.
It’s heady stuff and it’s history few in the West know. The Wild East. Much wilder than anything I knew of before, for much longer. For me, a new frontier to explore.
Jim Cornelius, Editor
Recessions and resolutions
Times have gotten really tough for a lot of folks in Sisters. Jobs lost, hours cut, retirement incomes shrunk or gone up in smoke.
We’re not in the hurt locker yet, but we need to be careful to stay out of it. My wife’s hours have been cut back and we need to watch the dollars pretty closely. Our situation is by no means really tough and we’re thankful that the cuts we need to make are not vital ones.
As an irrepressibly optimistic pessimist (or is that a pessimistic optimist?), I’m trying to find ways to make getting lean beneficial and maybe even fun.
I don’t have a book budget anymore. But I have a stack of books I still want to read and there’s always the library. We’ve given up movie rentals in favor of read-aloud sessions with our nine-year-old, Ceili. We start “Inkheart” tonight. I’ll miss watching my obscure Eastern European historical epics (see “The Wild East”), but I’m really excited about the reading sessions. There’s something timeless and satisfying about reading a well-wrought tale aloud together.
My Brazilian Jujitsu class has been cut back to once a week. A small savings and it will let me focus with more intensity on my conditioning, which I need to ramp up to keep improving on the mat.
My wife, Marilyn, will use some of her extra time to make more home cooked meals, which is good for the pocketbook and good for the body. We’ll still sometimes bring home Oryisa’s phenomenal soups from Ali’s and hit Coyote Creek and Soji for takeout. We want to support the local businesses that support us. But it will be more of a special occasion thing.
Even though gas prices have plummeted in a way I thought I’d never see, we’re still paying close attention to our driving, especially with my gas pig truck.
Restraining impulse purchases and watching utility use are also habits we need to reinforce. Non-essential expenditures on the horse are out (at least we can keep him fed!)
And I can reduce my weekly quota of ammunition... I can. I will. Really.
Making music with friends remains cheap — and there’s no price tag you can put on the value.
Fortunately we’re not in the position of making drastic moves — and hopefully we’ll stay out of that kind of trouble. There’s plenty of people who have to make much tougher choices every day and I feel for them and salute them for their fortitude. I also salute all of those in Sisters who work hard to help those in real need.
I can honestly say that the changes we need to make are beneficial, making for a better way of life. We’ve always lived pretty modestly, but some enforced conservatism will help us live more frugally and with more intent, better focus on our genuine priorities, on what “prosperity” really means to us.
Jim Cornelius, Editor
We’re not in the hurt locker yet, but we need to be careful to stay out of it. My wife’s hours have been cut back and we need to watch the dollars pretty closely. Our situation is by no means really tough and we’re thankful that the cuts we need to make are not vital ones.
As an irrepressibly optimistic pessimist (or is that a pessimistic optimist?), I’m trying to find ways to make getting lean beneficial and maybe even fun.
I don’t have a book budget anymore. But I have a stack of books I still want to read and there’s always the library. We’ve given up movie rentals in favor of read-aloud sessions with our nine-year-old, Ceili. We start “Inkheart” tonight. I’ll miss watching my obscure Eastern European historical epics (see “The Wild East”), but I’m really excited about the reading sessions. There’s something timeless and satisfying about reading a well-wrought tale aloud together.
My Brazilian Jujitsu class has been cut back to once a week. A small savings and it will let me focus with more intensity on my conditioning, which I need to ramp up to keep improving on the mat.
My wife, Marilyn, will use some of her extra time to make more home cooked meals, which is good for the pocketbook and good for the body. We’ll still sometimes bring home Oryisa’s phenomenal soups from Ali’s and hit Coyote Creek and Soji for takeout. We want to support the local businesses that support us. But it will be more of a special occasion thing.
Even though gas prices have plummeted in a way I thought I’d never see, we’re still paying close attention to our driving, especially with my gas pig truck.
Restraining impulse purchases and watching utility use are also habits we need to reinforce. Non-essential expenditures on the horse are out (at least we can keep him fed!)
And I can reduce my weekly quota of ammunition... I can. I will. Really.
Making music with friends remains cheap — and there’s no price tag you can put on the value.
Fortunately we’re not in the position of making drastic moves — and hopefully we’ll stay out of that kind of trouble. There’s plenty of people who have to make much tougher choices every day and I feel for them and salute them for their fortitude. I also salute all of those in Sisters who work hard to help those in real need.
I can honestly say that the changes we need to make are beneficial, making for a better way of life. We’ve always lived pretty modestly, but some enforced conservatism will help us live more frugally and with more intent, better focus on our genuine priorities, on what “prosperity” really means to us.
Jim Cornelius, Editor
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