From the article:

[quote]

"President Bush said to all of us: 'I am driven with a mission from God'. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did."

A Christmas gift was Obama's War by Bob Woodward.

It's a boring read, the driest of detached reporting. It's also confusing, full of acronyms, names of people so numerous one can't keep track of them.

But, oh, it's chilling. Woodward does not comment. he simiply reports. But the picture that emerges is of a nation fighting (and losing) a war in Afghanistan - with no definition of what victory his defined - or defeat.

Establish a functioning democracy? It's agreed that;s fifty years away, at best.

The link is to a Globe and Mail report published Monday June 25, 2912.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/obama-jilted-canada-leading-us-journal-says/article4369527/

An American army colonel of considerable military respect was assigned by congress to prespare a report on the conduct of the Afghanistan war.

His report appeared a few days ago - probably not in many North American news sources. I got mine in the Guardian.  (With an e reader. you can get the Guardian for under  $20 a month.) The report is blistering.

 A new report says food-bank use in Canada has risen 9.2 per cent in the past year, mainly because the recession is still hitting poor people hard.

Some may be interested in this

quoted from http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Afghan_War_Diary,_2004-2010

25th July 2010 5:00 PM EST WikiLeaks has released a document set called the Afghan War Diary, an extraordinary compendium of over 91,000 reports covering the war in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010.

 Afghan President Hamid Karzai threatened over the weeke

This doesn't inspire trust in this government acting in our name:

Globe editorial -- The persistent curiosity deficit

From the article: