for a while we forgot about afghanistan

the problem of 'terror' is one that i have been thinking about more and more lately, especially over break. Most Indians asked me a few questions about Obama, did I vote for him? is he really any good? and what's he going to do about pakistan? whereas anti-war efforts have been focused on america's misguided war on terror (the war in iraq), the afghanistan issue has exacerbated and spread into pakistan. obama plans to send 30,000 more troops into afghanistan. today's nytimes opinion article how not to lose in afghanistan has some interesting views. Bruce Reidels and Parad Khanna's are the best ideas in my opinion, emphasizing efforts which work closely with neighboring areas, and emphasize investment in afghanistan's economy and infrastructure. the comments are also especially insightful, asking the most important question: why does Obama think that more troops will help? Haven't we been down this road before?

the problem in afghanistan is rooted in it's lack of order, money and infrastructure. are 30,000 more troops the solution? another article, fearing another quagmire in afghanistan writes, "Think Iraq was hard? Afghanistan, former Secretary of State Colin Powell argues, will be “much, much harder.” “Iraq had a middle class,” Mr. Powell pointed out on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” a couple of hours before Mr. Obama was sworn in last Tuesday. “It was a fairly advanced country before Saddam Hussein drove it in the ground.” Afghanistan, on the other hand, “is still basically a tribal society, a lot of corruption; drugs are going to destroy that country if something isn’t done about it.”"