Word: oda
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Reported by Yuki Oda...
...these flow from the Koizumi years. But there is a role to play for the person who makes sense of what a predecessor started. Junji Higashi, a legislator with the New Komeito party who is close to Koizumi, says the outgoing Prime Minister loves to compare himself to Nobunaga Oda, the revolutionary warlord who all but conquered Japan in the 16th century and began the unification of Japan. But Higashi notes that it was Nobunaga's successors, Hideyoshi Toyotomi and Ieyesu Tokugawa, who built a stable rule that endured for more than 250 years. "Koizumi was about creative destruction," says...
...says Lieut. Colonel Custer (no first names allowed), the special-forces commander for eastern and southeastern Afghanistan. The idea is that as the U.S. brings stability to places like Nangalam, cooperation from locals will rapidly spread like ink through blotting paper. Since arriving three months ago, the men of ODA 936 have launched numerous reconstruction projects, ranging from new footbridges to schools and clinics. Villages that are neutral or friendly benefit from aid. Those that haven't given up weapons or that abet the insurgents receive none. "We're generating the goodwill that engenders willingness to offer up information," says...
With its mix of inducements and force, ODA 936 is employing the same tactics long used by local chieftains. It's one thing to find the myriad "angry guys with beards" and kill them, says Custer, "but it's much better to co-opt them...
...establishing alliances with Nangalam's villagers, the Green Berets hope that intel will follow. Similar tactics worked for them in the 1960s in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Last month 27 weapons caches were turned in to ODA 936 in Nangalam, more than anywhere else in Afghanistan. Once the troops' presence is established in the Afghan hinterlands, U.S. officers believe, the villagers will start to deny the terrorists sanctuary. Although one Green Beret says, "It's going to take dumb luck to stumble across Osama," the special forces are confident that someone will eventually give...