The UN has now confirmed an Afghan report that NATO and Coalition airstrikes in Afghanistan kill more civilians than the Taliban do. This makes sense in a way because the Taliban, nasty as they are, do not have Raytheon, McDonnel Douglas and the rest of the military incuntrial complex.The New Yorker's John Lee Anderson gives a very compelling account of the difficult anti-opium efforts deep in Taliban country. He also, I think, explains in an indirect way why we've managed to turn the anti-Taliban efforts from mop-up (which is what it was when I lived in there in 2002-3) to a suddenly very losable war.
The problem, ultimately, is cultural. The last graf of the piece:
Back at camp, everyone was in a bad mood. Hook, the former prison guard, remarked, “We ought to take all those guys and hang them in public, beginning with the governor.” He laughed, and added, “Good thing I’m not an idealist—I’m just here for the money.”
