an outpost in the 'Stan

There's a brilliant feature in the Wall Street Journal this morning about Combat Outpost Seray in Afghanistan, and happily it is online in full. The writer is Yochi Dreazen, who asks the pertinent question: 'But will the troops in these tiny redoubts be able to carry out the often conflicting missions of fighting insurgents and building relationships with local villagers, or will these soldiers and Marines merely be easy targets?' (Well, both, in all likelihood.) Blue skies! -- Dan Ford