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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The Afghan Mask Slips

What are we doing in Afghanistan? This is not a "good war".

"So explain something to me: Why does the military of [the US] a country convinced it's becoming ungovernable think itself so capable of making another ungovernable country governable? What’s the military’s skill set here? What lore, what body of political knowledge, are they drawing on? Who do they think they represent, the Philadelphia of 1776 or the Washington of 2010, and if the latter, why should Americans be considered the globe’s leading experts in good government anymore? And while we’re at it, fill me in on one other thing: Just what has convinced American officials in Afghanistan and the nation’s capital that they have the special ability to teach, prod, wheedle, bribe, or force Afghans to embark on good governance in their country if we can’t do it in Washington or Sacramento? "

Tomgram: Engelhardt, The Afghan Mask Slips | TomDispatch

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