Did we get on the wrong road from the outset?

**JMA** · 06-11-2010

Originally Posted by Sylvan

The entire foundation of Afghan government is flawed.
A strong central government with appointed provincial governers is a disaster.
We wish to find external sources of failure in Afghanistan when you can look at the AWK Sherzai goat rope and find the beginning of the deteriorating AFghanistan situation.
Kharzai is many things. Good for the US isn't one of them.

How did it ever get to this?

The idea was to prevent Afghanistan from being used as a springboard or training base for attacks against the US and the West. The Taliban government was taken out to supposedly achieve this. How it got to where it is today where the US and the West are supporting a illegitimate corrupt government at a massive cost is quite amazing.

**Rick Bennett** · 06-14-2010

Indeed, how ever did it get to this?
Where in the UN and in our government is the examination of whether it was ignorance or lobbying (or indeed, what degrees of each) that allowed the particular political elite to take the lead? Nor have we asked why we went "all in" on the first hand; it sounds as if we learned nothing since the days when we backed Fidel and reaped that bitter harvest.

**JMA** · 06-14-2010

Originally Posted by Rick Bennett

Indeed, how ever did it get to this?
Where in the UN and in our government is the examination of whether it was ignorance or lobbying (or indeed, what degrees of each) that allowed the particular political elite to take the lead? Nor have we asked why we went "all in" on the first hand; it sounds as if we learned nothing since the days when we backed Fidel and reaped that bitter harvest.

Clue me in on the Fidel connection please.

**Rick Bennett** · 06-15-2010

An earlier instance where the US picked a counterpoint to an undesireable regime and learned later, much to our chagrin, that the alternative came with baggage.
I think our own history is illustrative - the articles of confederation were politically acceptable to the new states until evidence showed their flaws, and even then the new constitution was a palatable surrender of power only because of the assumption who would be the new executive. The world has many more Aaron Burrs than it has George Washingtons; despite this we don't seem to use a hedging strategy but rather plunge in to the strong central model with strong executive powers. While it might appear to be the quickest way to sew up the involvement it too often ends up as a oozing sore.