NYT Editorial: "Losing the good war"

After several years of quiet neglect Afghanistan is receiving some attention. There's nothing new, per se, in the Times editorial, but it crisply encapsulates some flaws in our strategy: insufficient attention to providing justice, inadequate oversight of mission-critical contracts, and too much focus on quantity of security forces rather than their quality (manifest through crash courses rather than sustained field training.)

The Times editorial is better than most, but it still opts for easy cynicism in concluding "so much for winning the good war." Perhaps we should not read too much into this rhetorical flourish, but is the Times implying that the war cannot be won? What would "winning" entail? 

Reconstruction of fractured nations is a daunting task, and we'd be having problems even if things had been managed well. Yet much has been achieved in Afghanistan, people remain optimistic (twice as many Afghans see the country headed in the right direction as in the wrong direction), and disaster is far from inevitable. Drawing too close a parallel to the brutal unraveling of Iraq--as it seems fashionable to do--is analytically lazy and has real consequences for a project of such importance.

Losing the Good War, NY Times Op-ed, Dec 5
...The failure to provide local security — or even a semblance of impartial justice — helps explain why so many Afghans have lost confidence in the pro-Western government of President Hamid Karzai, and why a growing number are again turning to the Taliban for protection. MORE

The failure to stand up an effective police force also helps explain why opium cultivation rose by nearly 60 percent this year.

Creating even the most basic government institutions was always going to be difficult in a country as poor as Afghanistan. According to one expert, 70 percent or more of the recruits in the police training program are illiterate — not surprising in a country with a male literacy rate of only 43 percent. But the State Department and Pentagon compounded these problems, handing off the bulk of the police training work to an expensive private contractor and then failing to vigilantly monitor the program. We have seen that time and again in Iraq, where experts say the police training is at least as flawed...

As for fixing the police training program, there is little hope of that without also reforming the Afghan Ministry of Interior, which oversees the police, and is mired in both incompetence and corruption. Washington has sent some advisers to help clean up the ministry, but the effort is moving far too slowly. And the United States and its allies need to send a lot more police advisers to walk the beat with the newly graduated recruits, who get just a few months of classroom training. That is standard practice for training effective police forces, but it has not been tried in Afghanistan.

Comments

[pangloss]

I think I agree, it is not difficult to slip into an "easy cynicism" with Afghanistan. However I'm starting to think of the place in a slightly different light than the majority of the reports on the place I read from the MSM, NGO and the blogsphere which seem to focus on about a 6 month timeline. So, though I'm still sorting things out, I think I might be becoming a hard cynic about the place. Here is where I am. Afghanistan is very (extremely) economically underdeveloped except maybe for pockets in Kabul so without a guerilla war there are major problems in terms of developing a stable society - democratic or not. NATO in the South, at least my country Canada, says it is focusing partly on development (though under questioning in the H. of Commons can't specify any real details) which means building infrastructure (roads & buildings etc.). Roads and buildings help but don't make a stable society and are easy targets for the dissatisfied. If there were no enemies to fight or destroy infrastructure and the Afghan gov't has simply to govern which means provide services where do the funds come from to do this. A check of the limited fiscal framework information the Afghan finance department puts up on the web indicates that most of the gov't revenue comes from outside, though some is raised by an import tax. The country has some resources but they seem pretty limited and are likely not sufficient to raise anyones standard of living much. All this is leading me to think that simply defeating the Taliban militarily, questionable right now, just maybe gets the West or NATO to the starting line i.e. this is a 20 or 30 year project. So other than for humanitarian reason, I'm pretty sceptical about the place and certainly about my own country's involvement. I'm looking around for examples of situations that maybe analogous to Afghanistan - underdeveloped, few economic resources, immature goverance structure, partly warrior type population that feels disatisfied - that have been a success in moving towards stablility.

[Martha]

Anyone who thinks that the Afghan people will be better off following this administration's policies is surely deluded. A project of this significance benefits government consultants and contractors. The Afghan people have received few of the crumbs left and will pay the biggest price for our corporate greed.

[The Den Mother]

I just found this site via a Google search for something else.

You write, "After several years of quiet neglect..." I always chuckle when people who haven't paid attention to the war in Afghanistan claim that no one else has been paying attention either. In actuality, the military forces of the U.S. and several other countries have been quite active there. Military personnel continue to die there. But it continues to be a popularly supported war, so it gets little attention (no controversy = no news).

Those who have ignored Afghanistan are like infants who think that if they can't see something, it must not exist. You may not have bothered to keep yourself informed, but that doesn't mean the rest of us are so willfully blind.

[lynn]

We have Laptop parts come a long Dell Inspiron 9300 Series keyboard way since notebooks Dell PA-12 AC Adapter came to the market Gateway M460 AC Adapter for the first Dell AD-4214N LCD AC Adapter time. Back Dell 1702FP LCD AC Adapter then a notebook Delta SADP-65KB (REV.B) AC Adapter was not only Dell Inspiron E1505 Series keyboard heavier in weight but Original HP Pavilion DV9000 AC Adapter also lacked features Apple A1021 AC Adapter that are very common in the modern Acer Aspire 1410 Series AC Adapter notebooks. For instance, few Original Toshiba PA3467U-1ACA AC Adapter would have ever imagined to get connected to the Internet sitting at the balcony in wireless environs with the help of a built-in wireless card in their notebook. The sequencer Acer PA-1700-02 AC Adapter is software that Dell Inspiron E1705 AC Adapter records and processes Liteon PA-1900-05 AC Adapter the signal from the Toshiba PA3396U-1ACA AC Adapter sound card. You Dell XPS M140 AC Adapter can track, slice, Dell Inspiron E1705 Series keyboard cut, paste, normalize, Dell Inspiron 6400 Series keyboard time stretch Dell Latitude D630 battery add effects amongst Dell Latitude D600 Series Battery other magical Dell 1701FP LCD AC Adapter tricks. The Gateway PA-1700-02 AC Adapter sequencer choice is vast, the best thing is to consider your budget. Mobile PCs Dell Inspiron 1300 AC Adapter use a stylus Toshiba PA3467U-1ACA AC Adapter for input on a touch Dell Inspiron 6000 Series keyboard screen using an on-screen Dell Latitude D620 battery keyboard. The Mobile PC Samsung AD-4214L LCD AC Adapter may have capabilities Toshiba PA-1650-01 AC Adapter of handwriting recognition, allowing Dell Inspiron B130 AC Adapter the user to input Toshiba SADP-65KB AC Adapter text using the stylus Dell XPS M140 Series keyboard on the screen and usually offers selection, and drag and drop facility traditionally provided by the mouse using the stylus.Today, you can walk into Laptop parts many brick-and-mortar Laptop Acer AC Adapter electronics and computers retailers Gateway Laptop keyboard and expect to find laptop bargains. Toshiba Laptop keyboard They are just about everywhere. Dell Laptop AC Adapter Prices for bargain laptops have become so low that walking out of a store with one for yourself and Liteon Laptop AC Adapter and one for a friend is even an option.

[ugg24hours]

nice artitle with good points!

ugg shoes

cardy boots

ugg classic cardy
bailey button

classic cardy boots

uggs classic cardy

ugg cardy boot

crochet ugg boots

uggs classic crochet

ugg mini boots

uggs mini boots

ugg short boots

ugg classic boot

uggs classic short

tall ugg boots

ugg chestnut tall

classic tall uggs

ugg coquette slippers

ugg slippers

[ugg24hours]

nice artitle with good points!

ugg shoes

cardy boots

ugg classic cardy
bailey button

classic cardy boots

uggs classic cardy

ugg cardy boot

crochet ugg boots

uggs classic crochet

ugg mini boots

uggs mini boots

ugg short boots

ugg classic boot

uggs classic short

tall ugg boots

ugg chestnut tall

classic tall uggs

ugg coquette slippers

ugg slippers

[groupshoes]

I'm a little late finding this article, but I loved it.
Do you love sports, do you feel like to look cool, i got a very awesome website here introduced by one of my friends. Very good website where you can find the Authentic nike shoes with latest and huge style of nike air max shoes and dunk sb shoes. I have bought from them for so many times, and very satisfied with the their goods and service.Such as Air max 1, air max 2, air max 90, nike air max 2009+, air max 2010 new, nike air max TN, nike air ltd trainers, air max 95.Air max 360 running shoes, nike shox shoes. Though their price are low, don't worry about it's quality.

Christmas is coming, go there to find presents for your friends or family. They are on sale, limited time!

[cheap uggs]

I like this post, thank you. and i Just got my uggs boots on sale! They are absolutely beautiful, and the quality is just amazing. No wearing them in, no blisters just absolutely snug strait out of the box. Lol. Uggs boots on sale! So pretty! I will pair them with my new jeans.

[Cheap Paul Smith Brands]

The paul smith belt online retailer also knows bargain-hungry shoppers are scouring the Web for discounts, and itspaul smith rivals are more than happy to provide them. So it is putting coupon codes on that customers can use to save money on its site.

[sexy lingerie]

cute and fashion cheap corsets bustiers are really cheap now,i buy many pics for myself and also send my friends,they are really love these sexy lingerie.