Why does the Obama administration seem so arrogant and self-satisfied? Lee Siegel says blame smug press secretary Robert Gibbs, who should take a page from the courtly style of Tony Snow.

In a speech delivered Monday to the annual convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in Arizona, President Barack Obama promised to intensify the US military engagement in Afghanistan and Pakistan, wind down the war in Iraq, and create a new military that would be better-equipped to wage unconventional warfare. The speech’s central purpose was to prepare public opinion for an escalation and prolongation of the US war in Afghanistan and its further expansion into neighboring Pakistan. It's a pity he can't be "un-elected"...William Pfaff: Could Obama please tell us what he thinks the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan are about?

URUKNET: Even before it kicks off, Afghanistan's showcase presidential election is likely "sold" and "stolen", analysts warned, stressing that a growing sense of disillusion amongst voters in the war-torn country is adding to the polls’ severe crisis of credibility. "August 20 will not guarantee free, fair democracy here," Wadir Safi, of Kabul University's law and political sciences faculty, told Agence France Presse (AFP) on Sunday, August 16. "It will be forged and fake democracy and elections."

"Regardless of means, every Australian is entitled to attend a public hospital and receive medical treatment free of charge." NYT: The Swiss Menace: "Every wealthy country other than the United States guarantees essential care to all its citizens."