A Lost Cause?

The New York Times today published two classified cables sent by Karl W. Eikenberry, the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, to his superiors in Washington. In addition to expressing his complete lack of confidence in Afghan President Hamid Karzai's ability to take control of his country, Eikenberry had this to say:

"Even if we could eradicate pervasive corruption, the country has few indigenous sources of revenue, few means to distribute services to its citizens, and most important, little to no political will or capacity to carry out basic tasks of governance." Lovely.

The main thrust of Eikenberry's argument is that the more resources we pour into Afghanistan, the less likely they are to get their act together. I guess the real question is what we expect the Afghans to accomplish before we leave. They haven't been a real "country", with a centralized and powerful government, ever, or at least in modern history. When powerful countries use outside influence to create borders and unite populations, it never seems to work. Take a look at Iraq, or Yugoslavia. It seems the best we can hope for is for a place where terrorists are not welcome. Given the mountainous terrain, and the proximity to Pakistan, that seems unlikely.