Arnon Grunberg

Heroin

Manipulation

Mitchell LaFortune, a former US Army sergeant and intelligence analyst, wrote an op-ed piece in today’s Herald Tribune about Afghanistan: “The key to turning around the war will be to change that dynamic. In fact, we must clamp down on the three things the Taliban do particularly well: manipulating the news media, intimidating the rural population and providing shadow governance.”

If US intelligence analysts start accusing the Taliban of being formidable spinmeisters then there are two possibilities: either the war is definitely lost, or this particular intelligence analyst is high on heroin.