Afghanistan and Other Countries

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19124808

Ha!

Like the people in general have any confidence in the Afghan government.

Honestly, they're not the ones running the show.

And I can't tell whether it's delusional wishing, simple ignorance or both that's keeping the US fixated on these institutions out of Kabul that don't match and are not entirely compatible with the Afghan people and their society.

Imagine that computers could have non-compatible OS's with their hardware.  Imagine that the root wiring actually meant that specific operating systems would not function well, and would likely cause damage to the computer's systems if it were installed. 

That's not actually the case, since computers can take whatever operating system that's installed in them.

But that is the basic case with human societies.  You've got to understand the context, the culture, the history and the public's sense of itself, before creating governments and what are, essentially, operating systems for people.

It was not Obama's fault that we got saddled with these positions.  But it is his fault that we did not try to shift to something that would be more in line with what the Afghan people need and, probably, would have wanted more.

The central government in Kabul has limited power in comparison to the local and regional warlords.  We could have calculated this aspect of Afghan history and culture into the equation and circumvented what are now the drug lords of Afghanistan.  However, they're entrenched now.  And short of military force (which we cannot afford to use due to the pressures of the Taliban from Pakistan and the fact that it could likely add years to an operation that has already outstayed its welcome), we're not going to be able to remove them from where they've set up shop.

We chose to institute a European style democratic state, based on the principle that all power gets, essentially, centralized from the central capital.  We did not consider the culture, the context and the society that we were trying to produce a government for.  We instead, chose to focus on our own opinions and our own desires, without thinking about what could actually have been done for the Afghan people in the Afghan context within the Afghan culture and society.

And, unless we change our thinking about this, we will be making the same financially and diplomatically costly mistakes that will haunt our nation's coffers and reputation.

And, it will only be our own fault when we get the same basic results from doing the same basic things, over and over and over again, throughout time and space.

Think about it.

Cause you're also boned when you don't.

Think about it.