Kimberly, your view of Obama’s mountainous challenges in Afghanistan is fresh, enlightening and chilling. First off, I was surprised to read that O has kept so many of the old Bush hands on his team. This is excellent – and another example of the man’s self-confidence and sanity! Usually a new president cleans the slate, wiping away the public’s investment in the previous crew. It’s crazy not to take advantage of their knowledge and experience. Second, you’ve made me feel sorry for Richard Holbrooke, who has taken on the job of “fixing” Afghanistan (and Pakistan). From what you say here, the task is impossible.

I was in Afghanistan in 2003. All you have to do is go there, and you know. In only a few days, it became clear how daunting the “rebuilding” was going to be, even in the capital. Kabul was strewn with rubble — mounds of destroyed buildings, left over from the war ousting the Russians years before. It looked as though there had been no cleaning-up at all.  

We went south of Kabul to Paktia province to visit a school the U.S. had taken on as a “reconstruction” project. Boys and — significantly — girls were attending a few hours a day. This alone was huge. The Taliban had banned little girls from learning to read. But none of the kids at the school had anything to write with — no pens or pencils. My overriding impression was that it was a tiny little project, in a massive ocean of poverty, illiteracy … and the terror of warlords.

I also quickly realized the intractability of the opium trafficking; and training an “Afghan Army” seemed Promethean, since anywhere from 30 to 40 percent of the “soldiers” were deserting. They would go home for R and R, and instead of coming back, they were joining one of the warlords’ private militias, taking their Western training with them.

Anyway, Kimberly, we love your “posts” and hope you’ll keep ‘em coming.

Click here to read Obama and Afghanistan: NoChange.gov? by Kimberly Dozier.