Quote Originally Posted by Sylvan View Post
"OUR" Constitution it wasn't.
It is a Western Europe constitution that our State Department was so enamored of and shoved down their throat.
As you can see in other threads, my admiration for the capabilities of our State Department is literally immeasurable.
We gave them a disfunctional frame work, and then installed a disfunctional ruler.
And we are now befuddled that Afghanistan is disfunctional.
GIROA can never be any anything but corrupt, with fixed elections under the current constitution. Bad systems lead to bad results.

In the US we forget how blessed we are by our good systems.

As to Mr. Karzai, that is a matter between him and the people of Afghanistan. The U.S. needs to get out of the mindset of thinking that if we don't like a particular leader of another nation that we have some right to change that leader.

We need to make our focus the people of Afghanistan. The Afghan Army is never going to threaten the US; but if we take positions that are counter to the well being of the populace of Afghanistan the people certainly can.

Mr. Karzai is doing the US a favor by creating separation and working to create legitimacy for his presidency that if not borne of the popular will of Afghanistan, at least is not perceived as borne of the popular will of the US.

We need to step back and reassess where certain "lines" are. There are things that are within our "area of concern"; those that are within our "area of influence"; and those that are within our "area of control." We traveled down a slippery slope throughout the Cold war, and the subsequent War on Terrorism, to where we seem to think that every corner of the globe not within the sovereign borders of a nuclear state is within our area of control. I doubt that there are many others who agree with that assessment; and it is a position that is wearing thin with friends and foes alike.

Once we realize that not everything that concerns us can or should be influenced by us, and certainly even less should be controlled by us, we will begin to find the security from terrorist attacks that we seek, and a reemergence of the influence with others that has waned of late.

Perhaps Mr. Karzai will help us to figure that out.