Re: Will on Afghanistan

Rich, Kathryn et al, I'm less hostile to the George Will column. It seems to me we have no very clear war aims in Afghanistan, which is never a good position to be in.

A key reason for our remaining in Afghanistan is Pakistan — the world’s most fragile nuclear power. If Afghanistan were a terrorist haven, it would provide a base for them to subvert Pakistan. As it is, the terrorists in Pakistan’s NW territories must contend with both the US in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s episodic anti-terrorist efforts.

If “warlordism” is the natural condition of Afghanistan, then admit it. Your local warlord is the real governor of his district, may as well admit it. Make sure he has a green beret advisor and is well remunerated for whacking Taliban.

The dream government we’re building on paper has to bear a reasonable resemblance to the real government on the ground. The real forces are the ones you have to enlist or hire onto your side. Meanwhile keep training up a formal Afghan Army, make sure they are well paid so they aren’t deserting to join the better paid warlord armies, or Talibs.

What you can’t do is abandon the field to the Talibs. Make sure your people have free passage throughout the country and theirs don’t. This is a bandit country; you will always have gendarmes of some kind chasing bandits, it is the nature of this part of the world. The war is over; the Talibs have been expelled from the center. Now the problem is to build the gendarmerie sufficient to keep them at bay, out on the margins while the rest of the country gets back to whatever it is they do when they aren’t fighting each other.

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