re: #300 BeenHereAwhile

Are you suggesting that Afghanistan is less ethnically & politically complex today?

It’s still a mess, sorry “ethnically & politically complex” today but in different ways. The Mujahadeen no longer exist as a coherent force, the organisation (and I use the term loosely) formerly known as the Taliban is less national-political and more tribal-religious in form. I’ve not heard of the Northern Alliance in years, I figure they’re out stealing each other’s goats again while protecting the poppy fields in their little drug-baron fiefdoms. Al-Queda seems to have evaporated with the withdrawal of overt support from the Pakistani border states, probably due to pressure from the central Pakistani government after the bin Laden hit. Parts of AQ have resublimed as something that calls itself IS in Afghanistan but no-one cares because their Saudi money spigot got turned off.

God knows what NATO is trying to achieve in Afghanistan at this stage in the game other than being there because it’s supposed to be there under Clause 5 while providing a large chunk of the Afghanistan GNP in development aid, protection money and outright bribes. Elphinstone is starting to look like a military genius compared to the current Western commanders on the ground and their civilian leadership in the Western capitals.