Kerry's success in Afghanistan

[elprincipe]

http://www.slate.com/id/2233153/pagenum/all/#p2

It's been a little under the radar, but John Kerry's had a significant success on his trip to Afghanistan in convincing Karzai to accept a runoff election and possibly open the door to his opponent's presence in a new government there. I thought this article was interesting, including the analysis at the end especially, and think anyone interested in the ongoing war there should check it out.

Looks like we won't see a decision on more troops until after the runoff. Let's hope it's a success. I think the suggestion at the end of the article is as good a policy as any.

 

[speedracer]

I agree with the article. I'm willing to send more troops to Afghanistan if there's a government worth supporting. But Karzai's government seems by all accounts so awful that it probably can't be reformed.

Props to Kerry (did we both just say that?) for kickin Karzai in the ass though.

 

[elprincipe]

[quote name='speedracer']I agree with the article. I'm willing to send more troops to Afghanistan if there's a government worth supporting. But Karzai's government seems by all accounts so awful that it probably can't be reformed.

Props to Kerry (did we both just say that?) for kickin Karzai in the ass though.[/QUOTE]

Of course we both said it. However he contributed to it, Kerry should be commended for what was accomplished, which was to give us a chance of success there. Without a legitimate government, insurgency gains legitimacy. After all, if you thought our government was a dictatorship that maintained its power by rigging elections, you might consider doing many things to subvert such an illegitimate government, no? I certainly would. Therefore even more problems would result if Karzai seized power via a rigged election than we have now, and IMO we might as well have thrown in the towel except for special ops at that point because we shouldn't be seen as supporting a dictator.

So kudos to Kerry, even if I do disagree with him often.

 

[Feeding the Abscess]

Unfortunately, we've supported dictators around the world many times over; we've even put a few of them in. The chances of us up and leaving when we find out Karzai is corrupt are, as sad as this is to say, very slim.

And then we wonder why some people in that area of the world don't like us.

Kudos to Kerry, I agree.

 

[elprincipe]

[quote name='Feeding the Abscess']Unfortunately, we've supported dictators around the world many times over; we've even put a few of them in. The chances of us up and leaving when we find out Karzai is corrupt are, as sad as this is to say, very slim.

And then we wonder why some people in that area of the world don't like us.

Kudos to Kerry, I agree.[/QUOTE]

I know we've supported dictators in a number of places at times under "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" philosophy. I disagree with that and think we should avoid it in the future. But even if we did continue with that way of thinking, surely we can't deign to put 70,000 or more U.S. troops in the line of fire in support of an ineffectual government that steals elections. That's why what came about this past week was so important.