Sisyphus and Counterinsurgency

[Surferbeetle]

My thought is, that before we can move forward in Afghanistan, we must first step back. At the end of the day; the U.S. is far better served by an Afghan government that has the support of its own populace; than it is by an Afghan government that supports our government. Ideally we should strive for both, but if it can be only one, we want to be "blamed" for facilitating the former over the latter.

Here is a small concrete step in that direction:

Language company first in Army

The company, which officially unfurls its flag Oct. 23, provides uniform-wearing interpreters and translators to units deploying to places like Iraq and Afghanistan. While not yet fully manned, the unit will eventually include more than 140 native speakers of languages like Arabic, Farsi, Pashtu, Kurdish and Dari.

Once upon a time the US direct commissioned people with rare and necessary skills, and one could argue that language and cultural skills are in fact just that. If done with an eye for the strategic and pragmatic issues, I would suggest that a 'unconventional' solution can found to the problems that we all share...