KARZEI’S ‘WIN’
“With this decision from Abdullah and statements out of the White House it is total Keystone Koppery on Afghanistan right now. Does anyone have a memory that goes back to last month? Does anyone recall the urgency of John Kerry twisting Karzai’s arm to have new elections while he issued talking points mimicked by the administration that no forces could be increased in Afghanistan until at a minimum there was a new election that could prove the stability and legitimacy of the government there?
“This is cynicism in foreign and defense policy at its worst, grasping at any straw to find an argument that works with the American people while time is purchased at the expense of a bad argument that not even those making the argument ever believed.’’
SETH LEIBSOHN corner.nationalreview.com
“By agreeing to the run-off (and satisfying the US) but then refusing to take the steps necessary to make that run-off fair (and thus failing to satisfy Abdullah), Karzai bought himself some precious time. Remember, until Karzai gave in to Kerry’s cajoling, he was on the verge of losing international support, most crucially from the United States. Now, his ‘victory’ is being welcomed by the Obama administration - with David Axelrod going so far as to say that Abdullah ‘was likely to be defeated anyway.’
“So what’s next? Obama administration officials are saying they’ll judge Karzai on his appointments and whether he finally cracks down on drugs and corruption . . . Karzai was pretty good at getting out of this jam. If Obama isn’t satisfied with Karzai’s performance several months from now, Karzai may well be able to get out of that jam, as well.’’
JASON ZENGERLE www.tnr.com
“What does this mean in terms of the calculation that President Obama is working with in deciding troop levels in that country?
“Well, apparently not much. White House strategist David Axelrod said ‘Every poll that had been taken there suggested that he was likely to be defeated anyway, so we are going to deal with the government that is there.’ True. But members of the administration (always anonymous) have also been badmouthing Karzai in published reports about Afghanistan for awhile now.’’
MITCH PERRY blog.creativeloafing.com
CIT BANKRUPTCY
“With today’s
“As I posted previously, CIT Group makes loans to about a million small businesses like Dunkin’ Brands franchises. Those businesses need capital to operate and they can’t get it very easily by accessing public debt and equity markets. So lenders like CIT Group really matter to them. But the company got distracted by subprime mortgages and student loans and it is likely to scale back to its core business of lending to small and medium-sized business.’’
PETER COHAN www.dailyfinance.com
“You can bet that every possible effort was made to avoid a bankruptcy given the continued weak consumer confidence and the Obama regime’s obsession with doing anything to stop the continuing stream of bad news.
“Obama has only been president for ten months, and we’ve lost two major car companies, over 100 bank failures, millions more unemployed and now CIT Group has gone bankrupt. Things have gotten so bad that banks are refusing to complete foreclosures so they can dodge the property taxes and keep another financial loss off their books.’’
JAMES BUCHANAN us.altermedia.info 
