A U.S. Marine provides security during a road reconnaissance patrol in Helmand province's Nawa district, Afghanistan, Sept. 6, 2009. The Marine, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, is part of an effort to secure a reliable, safe passage between the government center in Nawa and Forward Operating Base Geronimo in Nawa. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. William GreesonFrom DoD Buzz:
What if the entire U.S. strategy in Afghanistan is based on a flawed premise? A counterinsurgency campaign is waged to defeat insurgents who are trying to supplant a central government with some version of their own. In Afghanistan, the U.S. military has been trying to defeat a largely Pashtun insurgency that doesn’t care much for our man in Kabul, President Hamid Karzai.
Read more ....
My Comment:The writer for this commentary .... Greg Grant .... hits it on the nose. The Afghan election appears to have failed on many levels .... but the most important level that it has failed on is on the perception of legitimacy.
From where I stand .... this election has been a disaster. It has alienated many groups .... and worse .... it is giving legitimacy to the Taliban and their calls that the Afghan Government is corrupt and incompetent.
And you know what .... the Taliban are right.