1. President Barack Obama has pledged to reduce our number of troops significantly by September 2012. Some Democrats feel that he is leaving too many there for too long, and some Republicans are complaining that he is going against the advice of his military leaders who want a greater delay in the troop reduction. Some cynics argue that the President only cares about getting the troops home before the 2012 Elections; other cynics say the military wants to drag out the war because that’s how they get revenue and promotions.
What do you make of all of that? Is the Afghanistan War winnable or unwinnable. I don’t know, but it does seem rather arbitrary to say that we will reduce forces 15 months from now. Who knows what the military situation will be by then? Maybe it would make better sense to let the situation unfold–maybe they should have the reduction in 12 months, or 18. It is hard to escape the conclusion that choices are being driven by political considerations more so than strategic concerns.
2. Tim Downs has written a brilliant book called Finding Common Ground. Downs argues that as a culture becomes increasingly indifferent and even hostile to the message of Christianity, Christians will have to re-assess how they reach out to people. If people don’t believe that the Bible has cornered the market on truth (or even that such a thing as truth exists) then they won’t be so receptive to a bunch of Bible verses. Fascinating stuff.
3. Hey, college students, college costs are increasing faster than the rate of inflation and even faster than health care prices, according to a newspaper article I recently saw. My point? Stop dawdling. Take your classes and get your degree. Sometimes the joy really is in the journey, but a four-year program should not take you seven years. Get it done and save a bunch of money.
4. “Thor” was a pretty good movie. The new Green Lantern and X-Men movies were even better. The X-Men was a great prequel, and Ryan Reynolds did a really good job as the Green Lantern. Go watch ’em.