Posted on 07/31/2008 11:42:08 AM PDT by Dawnsblood
Tough times and choices ahead for the next President, whoever it is.
THE BOTTOM LINE: SIX ASSERTIONS.
1 Afghanistan is in misery. 68% of the population has never known peace. Life expectancy is 44 years. It has the second highest maternal mortality rate in the world: One of six pregnant Afghan women dies for each live birth. Terrorist incidents and main force insurgent violence is rising (34% increase this year in kinetic events.) Battle action and casualties are now much higher in Afghanistan for US forces than they are in Iraq. The Afghan government at provincial and district level is largely dysfunctional and corrupt. The security situation (2.8 million refugees); the economy (unemployment 40% and rising, extreme poverty 41%, acute food shortages, inflation 12% and rising, agriculture broken); the giant heroin/opium criminal enterprise ($4 billion and 800 metric tons of heroin); and Afghan governance are all likely to get worse in the coming 24 months.
2 The magnificent, resilient Afghan people absolutely reject the ideology and violence of the Taliban (90% or greater) but have little faith in the ability of the government to provide security, justice, clean water, electricity, or jobs. Much of Afghanistan has great faith in US military forces, but enormous suspicion of the commitment and staying power of our NATO allies.
3 The courageous and determined NATO Forces (the employable forces are principally US, Canadian, British, Polish, and Dutch) and the Afghan National Army (the ANA is a splendid success story) cannot be defeated in battle.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedonovan.com ...
Every time I see this guy, all I can think about is how he whored himself out to be Clinton’s drug “czar” and got made a fool of on a regular basis on FR.
What the hell does that mean?
I don't see a way to make sense at all from those words.
That's different from, say, 1 in 6 pregnancies ending in the death of the mother (presumably, some babies don't make it full term).
Afghanistan is in misery. 68% of the population has never known peace. Life expectancy is 44 years. It has the second highest maternal mortality rate in the world: One of six pregnant Afghan women dies for each live birth.
This is, after all, Afghanistan we're talking about. This is not Monaco.
Its going to take a while. Its not going to get better if the Talibs manage to resume control, and certainly not if they are able to reignite open warfare throughout the country. Compare it to Waziristan. Thats probably the better comparison.
The magnificent, resilient Afghan people absolutely reject the ideology and violence of the Taliban (90% or greater)... The courageous and determined NATO Forces ( ...US, Canadian, British, Polish, and Dutch) and the Afghan National Army... cannot be defeated in battle.
Room for optimism. You can't be defeated if you don't give up. And if we can keep the psychopaths relegated to the hinterlands, things can only get better over time.
It’s going to be hard work to drag a country from the 8th Century into at least the sanitation and basic health requirements of the 21st.
Well, that's what I had guessed, but the "for each live birth" part just obfuscates what he's trying to say.
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