Word: valhalla
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...angry federal judge who accused him of leaking legal information to an outside attorney, who later provided that information to the Washington Times, seeking favorable coverage (the newspaper did not print the material). Kerik became Inmate No. 210717 at the Westchester County jail in Valhalla...
...weeks after president Obama took office, his Administration sought to manage expectations on Afghanistan. Yes, it was the right war, a war of necessity--but winning didn't require turning the country into a "Jeffersonian democracy" (Obama's phrase) or a "Central Asian Valhalla" (as Defense Secretary Robert Gates put it). The implication was that President Bush had become too distracted by secondary, nation-building goals, such as ensuring that Afghan girls went to school. Obama would focus on the main task: defeating al-Qaeda and the Taliban...
Defense Secretary Robert Gates was even more blunt: "If we set ourselves the objective of creating some sort of a Central Asian Valhalla over there, we will lose," Gates told Congress. "Because nobody in the world has that much time, patience or money, to be honest." (See pictures of the new offensive in Afghanistan...
...will no doubt be relieved that Obama's new strategy is as pragmatic as it is. The new President has abandoned earlier plans to turn Afghanistan into what Defense Secretary Robert Gates called "a Central Asian Valhalla", the task is focused on basic stability: halting the Taliban's momentum and preventing the country being used as a base for terrorists. In The Hague, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton even talked of negotiations with reconcilable Taliban insurgents, promising "reintegration into a peaceful society if they are willing to abandon violence, break with al-Qaeda, and support the constitution...
...Obama's civilian advisers fear a quagmire. But they know that some middle ground, between a "Central Asian Valhalla," as Secretary of Defense Robert Gates put it, and the current slide into chaos, has to be found. "We have to stabilize the military situation," said an Obama aide. "Continue to build up the Afghan army, and help the government to become more effective." In other words, hope that the disintegration of Afghanistan can be prevented while waiting - and hoping - for the Pakistanis to take effective action against the al-Qaeda and Taliban safe havens...