[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Think of the elements of the U.S. government that make this country so stable since its founding. I'll name three right off the bat:"

As I said in another post, I don't expect nor do I see Afghanistan breaking out in Liberal Jeffersonian Democracy. Stable in the eyes of our national interests should be a country that can be a functioning society that is no threat to us. I am no Bill Kristol neocon. Each country has to decide for itself what it's future is as far as society and government. As long as they are functioning and no threat to us, why should we care what kind of government a nation/state chooses for its form of government. If they want to be an ally of ours, then there is a larger hurdle they have to clear for that. A close ally even larger hurdles still. That is for them to decide.

[Alberta's Child]

If they want to be an ally of ours, then there is a larger hurdle they have to clear for that. A close ally even larger hurdles still. That is for them to decide.

If they are not going to be an ally of ours, then there is no reason for the U.S. to be there. Lay waste to the place and leave ... or leave it alone, period.

[otness_e]

Eh, I wouldn’t want any country to have a Liberal Jeffersonian Democracy, not even here in America. France got EXACTLY that with the French Revolution, and that was a disaster (and I call that a Liberal Jeffersonian Democracy because Thomas Jefferson supported the Jacobin excesses up to and including the Reign of Terror, and it was a democratic republic).

I also don’t have your optimism. Communist countries, heck, atheistic countries of ALL stripes, want to exterminate Christians, and I cannot accept an atheistic country as an ally, no matter how many hurdles we put before them.