Not retreating

“People say, ‘You are coming out of the Pech’; I prefer to look at it as realigning to provide better security for the Afghan people.” – Major General John F. Campbell, the US commander for eastern Afghanistan, on US forces withdrawing from the Pech Valley, where they have been trying to establish control since 2003.

Socialism with plutocratic characteristics

“Rich people are investing their money, creating more jobs. If rich people all get killed, nobody is going to invest or build factories, there will be no jobs.” – Hangzhou Wahaha Group chairman Zong Qinghou, China’s richest person and also a delegate to the Chinese National People’s Congress.

And usual

“Ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.” – State Department spokesperson P.J. Crowley (shortly before being sacked) on the US Army’s treatment of Bradley Manning, suspected of leaking classified document to Wikileaks.

Cluey

“What we figured out is that people in the Pech really aren’t anti-U.S. or anti-anything; they just want to be left alone.” – An anonymous US military official, quoted in the February 25 New York Times explaining the withdrawal from Pech.

Is too little also criminal?

“... it is a criminal offence to keep excess money dispensed from an ATM.” – March 1 Sydney Morning Herald, quoting NSW police after a computer glitch was reported to have caused Commonwealth Bank ATMs to give out more money than users had asked for.