"Afghanistan from 2012-2014: Is A Successful Transition Possible?" CSIS

"An examination of progress in each of these areas concludes that the Afghan government, the US and its allies, and aid donors have not made enough collective progress to ensure even a modest level of success in Transition by the end of 2014. If the Afghan government, the US and its allies, and aid donors are to succeed, major improvements must take place in the depth and quality of planning and analysis, as well as in the transparency, credibility, and integrity of reporting within the US government, allied governments, ISAF, and international institutions."  CSIS

----------------------------------

When are we going to wise up?  pl

 

http://csis.org/publication/afghanistan-2012-2014-successful-transition-possible

Comments

[Charles I]

If we use human nature and accept your dismissal of human change by that yardstick, never.

[Babak Makkinejad]

It is all about costs - people will stop pursuing hare-barined schema when they no longer can pay for them.

[Fred]

The government of the Republic of the United States of America does not exist to ensure effective government in Afghanistan nor do I as a citizen have an obligation to Karzai and his gang of crooks or those in rebellion agaisnt him. Too bad CSIS and the likes don't seem to remember that key point.

[William R. Cumming]

How does DoD train its forces for anti-corruption efforts and if it does not should the US factor in any given nation-states corruption before deciding to intervene?

I think many nation-states and individuals see the lack of anti-corruption measures when the US intervenes as a green light to conduct business as usual and perhaps even increase corruption!

I understand drug issues again plague the US military in Afghanistan as they did in Viet Nam. Comments?

[turcopolier]

WRC

Only a ruling occupying power can control corruption in a society. is that what you want? pl

[William R. Cumming]

So is the point that we have never ruled so cannot control corruption? Good point, PL!

[stanleyhenning]

I think this is a fair assessment of the Afghan situation and I think the "Nine
conditions" will not be able to be reasonably met. This is merely a sad reflection of why we need to stay out of wasting time and money on countries that have these problems. We really should also probably withdraw our money from the Egyptian military and let Egypt go to hell as well. We need to spend more time considering how to manage our own affairs and those with others who are trying to do good. In this equation, I'm afraid Israel remains a big question mark. If they refuse to even try to work out some reasonable situation with the Palestinians then they must live with it - not us.

[Bill H]

The question is, how do we define "others who are trying to do good" in your scenario? We don't even know how to be sure whether or not what we ourselves do is or is not good, and will have accomplished something if we even learn to "manage our own affairs."

[stanleyhenning]

Bill H, I screwed up my reply, but the bottom line is we have DONE IT to ourselves thanks to Congress writ large in the Sub-Prime loan fiasco , the "yes sir" COIN is the answer military leadership, etc, etc. We need key leaders who dare stand up to all this nonsense, not sit on the sidelines and watch us descend into depths not much better than the worthless pits into which we continue to throw our money. Let's cut it out and regain a foothold that brings us back to the America I used to think I was part of, before the whole system went "south".