We love a good cocktail. Actually, not just a good cocktail, but a great cocktail. And making a great cocktail is more than just an art — it’s a science. Mixologists must consider delicate flavor combinations and nagging little details like liquor-to-mixer-to-ice ratios.

And these days, a simple vodka tonic or Cosmo just doesn’t cut it. With a distinct nod to

Amazingly, just a few months after NATO and Afghan troops gradually stepped up operations in the Taliban heartland of Kandahar, the insurgents have fled, with a return unlikely. At least, that’s the optimistic tone the U.S.-led coalition sounds in a credulous New York Times piece today. The headline: “Coalition Forces Routing Taliban in Key Afghan Region.”

If pronouncements like “We broke their neck”