Step 1: Decentralize Afghanistan

[IntelTrooper]

What I would take down from the shelf is a shift to a focus of attaining localized "goodnees" and doing so in a manner that minimizes any perceptions of legitimacy of the Coalition over whatever government the Afghan people choose to put in place.

This statement by Colonel Jones from another thread, along with a recent post on Registan ("Afghanistan Needs a New Constitution, Not a New CEO") inspired me to advance for comment something I've been thinking of for a long time.

Given Afghanistan's history and current ethnic, tribal, ideological, and geographic diversity, why are we (the West/Coalition) trying to create and enforce an unnatural governmental system by force? For example, how many rural Pashtuns think of themselves as having an "Afghan" identity, in that they believe the government in Kabul generally represents their best interests, and that projections of government authority (in the form of provincial governors, district sub-governors, ANP, ABP, various ministries)?

It seems like we are forcing a square peg... why aren't provinces being treated more autonomously, like a loose federation of provinces/areas with strong identities rather than a monolithic "Afghanistan" (complete with fancy flag that must be flown at any opportunity to give the illusion of unity)?

Would turning to such an approach be akin to admitting defeat, or would it be too difficult to wrest control from Karzai and his network of political allies and give it to locally elected officials? I can anticipate the "slippery slope" argument (if we start giving provinces autonomy, then the districts will want it, then the villages, yadda yadda yadda) which shouldn't be an issue if the areas are apportioned through intelligent criteria.

After reading the RAND report on Bremer and the CPA, it seems we are making the same mistakes in Afghanistan as far as we are trying to push down an identity and code of behavior on people from the top rather than pushing up an acceptable, if somewhat different government from the grassroots.