Protecting those who work with GIRoA and the Coalition is a problem for every aspect of our operations there over the past 10 years, not just this one narrow, but critical, LOO.

If the Coalition does not shift focus to oversee and drive a reconciliation that results in reincorporating those represented by the Taliban with those represented by the Northern Alliance into an evolved, inclusive form of GIRoA, there will inevitably be a growth of insurgency as we withdraw (and we will withdraw) that will indeed punish those who have collaborated with our occupation. To assume otherwise is naive.

The Justice LOO I lay out here must be part of a larger effort that takes on overall legitimacy of governance (ends the Northern Alliance monopoly and Taliban exclusion) and equity under the law (ends the centralized Ponzi scheme of Patronage codified under the current constitution that make ALL government in Afghanistan "Government in a box" - a box built by the constitution, protected by the Coalition, and filled with cronies by Karzai). In such a scheme security efforts and development efforts would be greatly reduced and refocused as well to support these main efforts that go after the true drivers of this enduring conflict.

Can we protect all the people in the short-term? No. More will die due to the deliberate and accidental acts of both sides in this conflict. When one wages war against and among the people, the people suffer. We must focus on the longterm. If we only seek to enforce an exclusion of one side, then there will be a backlash, and it will likely be a brutal one.