Gideon Rachman, whose reporting I always read with respect and interest, writes in the FT: "(p)erhaps the mini-surge in Afghanistan can surprise the sceptics once again." Yet Gideon can only really dance around the question of how to nation build when there really isn't a nation to build (as he puts it "(t)he west has belatedly discovered the virtues of nation-building in Afghanistan but there may be no real nation to build"). Related, he notes how the T&E effort faces mega-challenges: "The Afghan army, in particular, is being expanded rapidly. But, ominously, it is having huge trouble recruiting in the Pashtun areas of southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban is strongest." Meantime, nation-building also entails pursuit of a very protracted counter-insurgency, of course. To what ultimate end, I'm not sure, with any real success I am afraid continuing to stubbornly elude us. Much like Iraq, what is needed now in Afghanistan is more by way of a responsible disengagement strategy, to include heightened diplomacy and use of regional actors in helping bring about a sustainable solution, rather than continued focus on military counter-insurgency and hugely ambitious nation-building that will likely prove utopian."
In the FT, here via the Belgravia Dispatch.
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