And so it is that one can only hope that on some level, this most recent development will help Walt and Mearsheimer come to grips with one of the toughest truths any author can grapple with.

Every book gets the readers it deserves.

(Quelle)

But now there’s some mutual backscratching: Bin Laden’s endorsees are calling for America to pull out of Afghanistan — which is also Osama’s top demand these days.

Just this Tuesday, Mearsheimer and Walt signed an open letter to President Obama saying that the US war effort is becoming “increasingly detached from considerations of length, cost and consequences.” They call on Obama to scale back US forces and “focus on negotiations with moderate Taliban elements,” a step that would surely please bin Laden highly. Carter, for his part, opposes an Iraq-style surge in Afghanistan: “Every time we launch one of our unmanned drones from Kansas and kill 100 people,” he says, “we make 100,000 new enemies.”

Scheuer has long opposed the US involvement in Afghanistan, which he calls “wretchedly ill-conceived.” Curiously for an ex-CIA analyst, he also admires bin Laden, describing him (without citing any evidence) as “the most respected, loved, romantic, charismatic and perhaps able figure in the last 150 years of Islamic history.” He also calls him “gentle, generous, talented and personally courageous.” Yes, gentle.

(Quelle)