Quote Originally Posted by Ken White View Post
I agree totally with your first item; think the second is probably unattainable lacking a couple of generations (see * above). I believe your third bullet is also in the multi-generation change arena; the fourth is indeed the big Kahuna and is likely beyond our control; the fifth is certainly desirable and may occur to an extent but as history shows, is unlikely to provide much real benefit; the sixth -- I hope you mean by the government of Afghanistan -- is going to take quite some time and the final one, I submit, should not be the concern of the US -- or the UN, indeed of anyone but the Afghans.
Ken,
I don't disagree with anything you stated. My intent was to generate thought on some important and compelling issues confronting the Afghans that were not addressed by McCaffrey. Instead of heaping praise on certain individuals and mentioning some solutions (even though some are questionable), I was hoping for more discussions on some of the issues I raised. Especially the first bullet which drives some, if not all, the others. I also find it disturbing that the report fails to address how Afghanistan is or is not in the vital interests of the US. If we are going to fight a 25 year war (at about $3 billion dollars a month), then Afghanistan had better be in the vital interests of the US. And this report ought to clearly establish how winning in Afghanistan is in the vital interests of the US, which in my mind it didn't.

From my sixth bullet...yes I inferred the Afghan government.
Best regrads,
Kreker