Foreign Policy Blogs

Town Halling Afghanistan

As we wait for Gen. McChrystal’s report on the war in Afghanistan I thought I would call your attention to this YouTube video in which the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen invites questions from the public on national security and military personnel issues for an online discussion billed as a virtual town hall. The forum for submitting questions ends tonight at midnight, so be sure to get your question in. Admiral Mullen is in the news for his critique of recent U.S. efforts to counter Islamic extremism using “strategic communication,” efforts which he says lack credibility. His solution is to simply let our actions speak louder than our words. Wise man.

     
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    Comments (2)

    1. Joel Davis
      Joel Davis Monday - 31 / 08 / 2009 Reply
      Sorry about the video not showing up. I've double-checked the code and it appears to be correct. I'm thinking that it may be a temporary glitch with Google Gadgets? I'm not sure really. At any rate, the link to the actual video in the first paragraph is working properly.
    2. Joel Davis
      Joel Davis Tuesday - 01 / 09 / 2009 Reply
      I've removed the code for the video player to avoid the error message that popped up. It's unfortunate that didn't work. It would appear that although the military was inviting the public to participate in the forum, they were not eager to share the video and allow bloggers to host the video on their own sites. Sometimes the desire to control information can be counterproductive. The direct link to the video still works.

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    Joel Davis
    Joel Davis

    Joel Davis is the Director of Online Services at the International Studies Association in Tucson, Arizona. He is a graduate of the University of Arizona, where he received his B.A. in Political Science and Master's degree in International Relations. He has lived in the UK, Italy and Eritrea, and his travels have taken him to Canada, Brazil, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and Greece.

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