That noexistent Afghan State

Commentary By Ron Beasley

While reading Steve's post below I found this by William S, Lind (via James Fallows): Last exit before Quagmire where he discusses the General Stanley McChrystal’s report.  This is the most important statement from Lind's piece:

Defects begin with the study’s failure to address Fourth Generation war’s first and most important question: Is there a state in Afghanistan? At times, the report appears to assume a state; elsewhere, it speaks of the Afghan state’s weaknesses. It never addresses the main fact, namely that at present there is no state, and under the current Afghan government there is no prospect of creating one.

The failure to acknowledge the absence of a state leads the rest of the report through the looking glass. For example, it puts great emphasis on expanding the Afghan National Security Forces (army and police). But absent a state, there are no state armed forces. The ANSF are militiamen who take a salary paid, through intermediaries, by foreign governments. How many Pashtun do you find in the ANSF?

As Steve noted below the Afghan police have not been able to recruit anyone for over a month and a half.  Why? Because there is no state of Afghanistan - never has been.  What US and Western policy makers cannot understand is that not everyone is like us.  They assume because there is a area on the map that is called Afghanistan there must be a state there.  Arrogance and ignorance are dangerous and deadly combination.

Lind concludes with this:

If President Obama and Congress accept General McChrystal’s report and adopt a new operational plan in support of the current strategy, building an Afghan state around the regime now in Kabul, they will guarantee an American defeat. Sending more American troops to Afghanistan will only magnify the defeat. Ironically, what Washington needs to do is follow General McChrystal’s own recommendation and refuse more resources without a new strategy.

Let’s hope the politicians realize this is their last exit before a bottomless quagmire.

And this really helps:

Afghans protest rumored desecration of Koran by U.S. troops

Hundreds of protesters in Kabul burn an effigy of President Obama, a sign of rising religious conservatism and anti-Americanism in the country. The U.S. military denies committing acts of sacrilege.

[.....]

The incident also pointed to a strong undercurrent of anti-American sentiment at a politically fraught time in Afghanistan, less than two weeks before a runoff to settle a divisive, fraud-tainted presidential election.