--- Deborah Harrell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > --- "John D. Giorgis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > If you want to read the last 3/4 of the article > that > > discusses the room for > > improvement in Afghanistan, you'll have to buy the > > article from The Economsit. :) > > I added a few links on that. > > >http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displayStory.cfm?subject > > id=796681&story_id=1524657 > > > > So far, yes. Afghanistan is better off than it was > a > > year ago. The country > > is at peace, by its own standards... > > Is that the peace of warlords who are fighting for > control of the country outside of Kabul and a few > other cities? I'm really not trying to be snide > here, > but having to run a gauntlet of various armed > factions > outside of the major cities is not in my definition > of > a country at peace.
Me: Debbi, what on earth do you think life was like in Afghanistan before we went in? I'm being serious, not sarcastic, but as far as I can tell, you think we failed in Afghanistan because it's not Switzerland. Let me tell you, it's not Switzerland. It's not going to be Switzerland in my lifetime. It probably isn't _ever_ going to be Switzerland. Afghanistan, right now, is probably in better shape than it has been at any time in recorded history. Running a gauntlet of various factions outside of major cities is the normal state of affairs in Afghanistan. It has _always_ been like that. The fact that people usually make it through the gauntlet, the fact that things are more stable now than they have been historically - that is a tribute to the success of American power. You keep posting stuff about piddly-little fighting in Afghanistan - why don't you ever compare that to the way things were before we intervened? Why isn't that your yardstick? Gautam __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
