[gleeaikin]

The Pashtun majority of Afghanistan have survived many difficulties by adhering to their code of pashtunwali. This has served them for 1700 years, well before the start of Islam, and has spread to other tribes and parts of Pakistan. When bin Laden’s second in command, Zwahiri(sp?), fled to the northern tribes of Pakistan, he first of all was a guest, and also married a member of the tribe. Read the discription of this code below. Many other articles can be found on Google under Pashtunwali. Understanding this is extremely important to comprehending how Afghanistan works, and what might work there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashtunwali

[rollo tomasi]

After Karzai’s reign, why would the Pashtun (Non-Taliban wing) trust the US again? Also Al-Qaeda launched a successful campaign to uproot any type of influence Pashtuns (Assassinating/Executing their tribal leaders). Finally aren't we “at war” with the Taliban as well, who are primarily made up of Pashtuns. This is why we backed them, propped up their influence in the 80’s and look what happened.

What did Washington warn about in his farewell address? The advice is a foundation piece, not a period piece.