The author posed the question and the answer is already provided in the story: the Taliban and opium. What more needs to be said? It's a fatal combination that even our dear leader cannot overcome....the surrender and retreat are already in progress.

As an educated Afghan, it would be inconceivable to go back to Afghanistan at this point. We as US/European Afghans have adopted the rules of law from these Western countries and going back to a now corrupt country is just plain ludicrous and suicidal. Between the crazy uneducated religious zealots and the want-to-be-terrorists, I would not recommend anyone visiting Afghanistan, especially after the supposed pull-out which is planned for next year.

Regarding Karzai or any other imposed leader, they have to abide by the extremely complex socioeconomic dynamics that exist today so one cannot blame everything on them, at least someone is trying to patch this mess together.

Hopefully the future generation of corrupted Afghans in Afghanistan will attempt to use their new found monies to rebuild America similar to what the Kennedy's did with their bootlegging empire.

Until then, all Afghans should send money, medicine, clothes, pens/papers, blankets and other essentials to support the rest of the folks using certified charitable channels.

When the US fights politically correct wars they end up with results like Korea, Vietnam. Iraq and Afghanistan. In World War II we went into win and when we did we changed the culture of the Axis powers. No problems there today, Today, when we go to war we're afraid someone might get hurt.

Afghanistan is how you don't build a nation. The glory days were hard earned and short lived. The western powers that congregated after the Taliban brought to power hated warlords that provided the Taliban the excuse to take over the country. Unfortunately, everyone who is an expert in Afghanistan has come to become an instrument of chaos in Afghanistan. Instead of bombing Afghans with TNT, we should have showered them with pens, paper, and economic incentives. The cost of this approach would not only have been success in Afghanistan, but also a fraction of what we dropped as TNT.

Dear Charlie Brown,

I recommend that you enlist at your earliest convenience and insist they put you on the front lines in Afghanistan.

Yours sincerely,
Lucy

Charlie Brown,
You are 100% on target. The purpose of war should not be politically correct nation building. The purpose of war is to correct a horrendous wrong, and the methodology should be bomb the h*ll out of them until they fly the white flag (as we did with Japan and Germany).

Lucy,
I recommend you enlist at your earliest opportunity. Three years in the military might cure your diseases (liberalism and pacifism) which endanger our security.

Lucy,

I would love to re-enlist, but I received a Honorable Discharge from the service over 50 years ago and I don't think they would take me back, when did you serve?

Not too many front lines to serve on in the early 60s. Why the honorable discharge? Did you fall and hit your head or something? Left you today reading nothing much more sophisticated than Peanuts?

Back in the 60s I served on the streets of Chicago and Berkeley. Did another tour with the Peace Corps. Many of us were giving ourselves to a higher cause back then.

"Back in the 60s I served on the streets of Chicago and Berkeley. Did another tour with the Peace Corps. Many of us were giving ourselves to a higher cause back then."
Lol, let me guess the Weather Underground? Black Panthers? symbianese liberation army? Now it all makes sense......why didn't you just identify yourself as a worthless old hippy with anarchistic tendencies and leave it at that?
You can add your draft dodger credentials to that wonder resume of yours.....too bad folks like Charlie Brown sacrificed his time to ensure your freedom and liberties you obviously take for granted.

It just seemed clear to me at that time, and still does, that our Peace Corps work accomplished more than dropping bombs on Vietnamese civilians. Maybe, too, that's why we lost that war so decisively.

You continue to have residual effects from that head injury, Goofy Charley. In case you didn't know, women were not being drafted in the 60s.

And you think we as a society should allow you to purchase a fire arm? I do sincerely hope yours is taken away from you - that is, if your wife hasn't taken it and hidden it from you already.

Lucy, you disparage someone who sacrificed to keep you free? Is that what you free love liberal hippies are all about? The Peace Corp was a safe haven for students who refused to grow up and get a job. Lots of like minded useful idiots led to believe they were better than working families and soldiers.
Respect our military or don't....at your own peril.

Yes, self-righteous/goofy/charlie/buttired, please tell us what freedom was preserved in Vietnam or, for that matter, what good of any sort was brought about by US troops in Vietnam. (Seems I refute you each time, leaving you desperately posing with yet another name. So, don't worry, none of us actually expect you to address my question. No, you'll post with some other superficial inanities that I'll have to yet again swat down. You're truly pathetic. But, of course, there's the head injury, which tells us a lot.)

Oh, and maybe you want to tell us how to win decisively in Afghanistan. Maybe you might want to look up Alexander the Great, the British Empire, the Soviet state, or Bush's Folly for reference. Don't worry, we don't expect you to provide anything substantive here. Simply slither back under the rock from which you came.

So, the military couldn't get rid of you quickly enough. Does that explain your lack of employment and reliance on your wife all these past years? Rather difficult I imagine to hide brain damage.