Army Pvt. Devon J. Harris

Died November 27, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

Age 24, of Mesquite, Tex.; assigned to Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 10th Mountain Division, at Ft. Polk, La.; died Nov. 27 in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with a rocket-propelled grenade.

Read it all.

When W was president, the legacy media was clamoring to photograph the latest dead hero’s arrival home. Now that a Democrat is, there’s a blackout on that aspect of the war. Strange how that works, eh?

The latest from Michael Yon on the oft-ignored Afghanistan campaign.

Freelance war correspondent Michael Yon doesn’t explain the use of this teepee in Afghanistan except to say that it’s a memorial to an American unit’s war dead. MY’s apparently in need of money to continue. He’s still worth it. I’m still sending him some. You should too. (Uh, actually he does explain the teepee. The unit is the 2nd ID, the "Indian Head" division.)

Video "game makers aren’t afraid to put players in situations where U.S. soldiers are unambiguously the good guys, while the combatants – often Muslims – are the bad guys."

Via Instapundit.

Re our secular Christmas at the rancho: This celebration of parties, presents and poinsettias has more to do with Saturnalia than Christianity. It is far older than the religious version. (Some nineteenth century Protestants found it so unnerving that they took to assuring their fellows that while they did mark the Nativity they did "not worship the tree.")

Christians still confuse the two, some of them whacking the secular version as ungodly. Well, to each his own. Mrs. C. would be lost without her favorite time of the year. And while he long ago graduated from Santa to understanding who the real gift-givers are, Mr. B. likewise would be bereft without packages to unwrap and goodies to consume. Good thing they needn’t be.

Link via Power Line.

But Barry’s new half-in, half-out strategy is pathetic. Especially his setting of a timetable for departure, which will only serve to put the Taliban and Al Q on notice that they can do all the free-killing of American troops they desire in the meantime. President Pantywaist has done the next worst thing to failing to decide at all. "America – we are passing through a time of great trial." No kidding. Will the last soldier out of the GWOT please close the door? Meanwhile, keep your heads down out there.

UPDATE:  Military analyst Ralph Peters agrees: "Our president is setting up our military to fail." Yep and, meanwhile, sending the enemy more American targets to shoot at.

I also see no reason to keep regulars in that briar patch with the Taliban tar baby but, moreover, I suspect Barry is going to be another LBJ, as this indicates, another micromanager all the way to defeat. The worst problem of course is that we’re really there for us, not for them. And they don’t want to fight in sufficient numbers to make advising worth while. But we could just go back now and then to clean out the Taliban rat’s nest. Annually, if necessary. It would certainly be cheaper in money and American lives.