November 17th, 2009 by Zack

Joshua Meah has an editorial asking if “anyone actually believe[s] democracy exists in Afghanistan?”  He argues that Afghanistan has no more democracy than China, but that the international community tries to pretend otherwise.  Western interests are sacrificing good governance for hope of democracy, but democracy isn’t always “good” in and of itself.  Meah supports Ashraf Ghani as Afghanistan’s Jawaharlal Nehru who could lead the country towards modernization and economic integration.

Tony Blankley argues in The Washington Times that the U.S. should withdraw troops completely if it is not committed to winning the conflict.

Steve Coll in The New Yorker (h/t Daily Dish) attempts to define what failure would mean in Afghanistan and its conceivability if  ”the Obama Administration does not discover the will and intelligence to craft a successful political-military strategy to prevent.”

Juan Cole provides a round up of recent Afghan news, including a  NY Times editorial arguing against a troop increase, the spiraling cost of the war, Abdullah Abdullah’s contention that a withdrawal of international support the Taliban will take over, and a CBS report that claims corruption is a bigger problem than the Taliban.

Posted in Afghanistan, Elections, Freedom, Reform, Taliban, US foreign policy |