These sorts of things inevitably devolve into furious barkings about the media siding with the enemy and yellow journalism, grrrr woof woof. I would point out that flying in and out of Afghanistan is simpler than most realize, and any of the pansies at Hyper-Nationalism Weekly easily could pony up to do a tour as an embedded reporter.

But there are all sorts of juicy tidbits in there — a calm confidence among the Taliban that victory is inevitable (which differs from the pansies at HNW who merely maintain that defeat is unthinkable), the well-supplied and luxurious life of the fighters, and is that a U.S. Army issue MOLLE pouch in the main photo?

Give it a read

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For some good news, Army Future Combat Systems is getting thinner and thinner, and we can only hope it soon will go away entirely.

The Future Combat Systems (FCS) is designed to make the Army lighter and more agile through an intricate web of manned and unmanned ground and aerial vehicles all linked together by a digital network.

This program has existed for so long and promised so much that is now hovers as some potential Olympian god with a penchant for smiting the unbelieving. But what remains a mystery is how a highly complex electronic network requiring extra gear, training and logistics will create a “lighter and more agile” Army.

If the Army wanted to become “lighter and more agile” I would advise them to jam a few people in with the Taliban (see above) and relearn light infantry tactics. Of course, the “lighter and more agile” Army is the secondary mission of the objective, the first being to make Boeing and Science Applications International Corp rich. Cashing in at $160 billion (not yet finished) it would seem it has been a thundering success in at least one arena.