Philly’s Mike Noonan talks war, Clausewitz, Afghanistan and the designated hitter’s rule. And then Patton pees on a mascot.

YON: The MEDEVAC issue takes on increasing seriousness. Numerous generals, the Secretary of the Army, and the Secretary of Defense (through Gen. Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs) have all weighed in on the fight.

Barack Obama apologizes for soldiers desecrating the Qur’an then claims credit when the violence simmers down. Rioting as a tool in the guerrilla’s kit and more in today’s LoD.

YON: We constantly argue about whether or not women should be allowed in combat. In reality they’ve been in combat for longer than anyone reading this has been alive, and they were in combat before any of our great-grandmothers were born.

Sean Parnell writes an important memoir about our war in Afghanistan. Courage, honor, dedication, love and loss as told by those at the far tip of the spear today in LoD.

YON: When a man says, “It’s a jungle out there,” he means, “It’s the Sundarbans.” Among the many wild and unforgiving places in the approximately 65 countries I’ve traveled, most are fairly safe when approached with good judgment and aforethought. The Sundarbans is not one of those places.

YON: The recent Koran-burning in Afghanistan has inspired lunacy and murder. And while the US civilian and military leadership burdened by their oleaginous apologies tumbles down a moral stairwell, Afghan security forces continue to murder American and Coalition troops.

YON: Early in the Vietnam war, chopper crews started taking along .45-caliber pistols, M14 rifles, and sometimes M79 grenade launchers. The ground crews installed extra armor plating on the backs and sides of the pilots’ seats.

Most of what Ahmed Rashid wrote in the New York Review of Books was spot on. But some points missed their marks, I think. The future of talks with the Taliban and our military mission to Kabul today in LoD.

Yon: This morning, I made an imaginary phone call to General Dempsey and we conducted this hypothetical discussion: