Bogging Down in Kabul

The Daily Beast by Matthew Yglesias | Sep. 1, 2009 (Opinion)

Rather than a limited mission to fight al Qaeda and support the existing Afghan government, we seem increasingly drawn into a hazily defined effort to reconstruct Afghan society so as to create a stable unitary government. If the issue here were simply that Hamid Karzai lacks certain things that the United States has in abundance—money, guns, air support—then this might be a reasonable objective. But in reality, Karzai is missing things we have no ... Full Story »

Posted by Kaizar Campwala

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Subjects: World, U.S.
Topics: Afghanistan, Foreign Policy
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Posted by: Posted by Kaizar Campwala - Sep 1, 2009 - 8:48 AM PDT
Reviewed by: Kaizar Campwala (review), Emma Asomba (review), Randy Morrow (review)
Content Type: Article
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Edited by: Kaizar Campwala - Sep 1, 2009 - 8:48 AM PDT
Related Comments: Afghanistan (5)

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Kaizar Campwala
3.8
 by Kaizar Campwala - Sep. 1, 2009
Kaizar posted this story.
See Full Review » (10 answers)
Emma Asomba
3.8
 by Emma Asomba - Sep. 1, 2009
See Full Review » (5 answers)
Randy Morrow
3.6
 by Randy Morrow - Sep. 2, 2009

It is foolish to think that we can install a strong central government in a country that has never had one and (mainly) doesn't want one. The best we can do is negotiate or isolate various tribes/ethnic groups to try to achieve the goal of minimizing the influence of Al Qeada.

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  • Time for the U.S. to Get Out of Afghanistan

    Washington Post by George F. Will | Sep. 1, 2009 (Opinion)
    U.S. strategy -- protecting the population -- is increasingly troop-intensive while Americans are increasingly impatient about "deteriorating" (says Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman ...
    Posted by Kaizar Campwala
    3.6
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