The Washington Kagan

2009

The next three items all appeared in print
in the Washington Post’s Op-Ed page
over a seven day span
surrounding President Obama’s December 1 speech at West Point
announcing his escalation of the Afghan War.
What they show is how the Post
restricts itself to a narrow, and highly biased, base
in covering the arguments for (mainly) and against (rarely)
war with Muslim countries.

Yes, I am aware the Post’s regular columnists Will, Robinson, Cohen and Dionne
have all come out more or less against
further American involvement in war in Afghanistan.
But none of those lay claim to any particular expertise
in either Afghanistan, war, or foreign policy.
The Kagan’s, all of them, do claim, with limited justice, such expertise.
But they clearly all come from the same ideological point of view.

There are other experts, real ones, on Afghanistan
who present different perspectives and come to different conclusions
on Afghanistan.
Two notable and quite articulate examples are
Michael Scheuer and Rory Stewart.
But, notably, neither of them has ever graced the op-ed page of the Post.
That stacking of the deck in favor of the arguments supporting only one side
is, I think, indisputably intellectually shameful.

2009-11-27-WP-Kagan-Frederick-and-Kimberly

In Afghanistan, real leverage starts with more troops
By Frederick W. Kagan and Kimberly Kagan
Washington Post, 2009-11-27

2009-12-02-WP-Kagan-Frederick-and-Kimberly

Obama's Afghanistan speech and strategy
By Frederick W. Kagan and Kimberly Kagan
Washington Post, 2009-12-02

2009-12-03-WP-Kagan-Robert

Obama's lonely decision
by Robert Kagan
Washington Post, 2009-12-03

[Althought the Post’s web site files this as part of its “Postpartisan” blog,
this article did appear in its entirety in the print edition for December 3,
on page A33, filling the entire highly prominent right column.]

2010

2010-03-05-WP-Kagan-Robert-bipartisan-consensus

On foreign policy, Obama and the GOP find room for agreement
By Robert Kagan
Washington Post Op-Ed, 2010-03-05

2012-12-19-WP-Kagan-Petraeus-civilian-analysts-gained-petraeuss-ear-while-he-was-commander-in-afghanistan

Civilian analysts gained Petraeus’s ear while he was commander in Afghanistan By Rajiv Chandrasekaran Washington Post, 2012-12-19 [This isn't about the Kagan's out-size access to the media, but rather their out-size access to the U.S. Afghan war commanders. But I needed some place to put it, so this seemed the closest fit. :-)]