The confirmation that the
US is participating in negotiations between
the proxy government in Kabul and the Taliban indicates the US is setting up for an early
exit from the failed effort to create a modern democracy in tribal Afghanistan. No surprise there since we have never been good at nation building given our record in the Philippines, Haiti, Liberia, Honduras, Vietnam etc. A
report on Dutch reconstruction efforts in Uruzgan Province [map center, dark red] by a Swiss based aid organization studied the relative success obtained by the Netherlands before withdrawing from the engagement in August. The report is based on four years of continuous research. While praising the Dutch effort in the birthplace of Mullah Omar, the report criticized what the Americans have done since they left. Locals see the Americans as taking the Popalizi side (Karzai's tribe) in a tribal civil war, whereas the Dutch managed to deal successfully with a precarious balance of power between tribal leaders. The report implies the Americans are in a hurry to leave. No doubt it is correct on this point as war weariness has set in on the home front. The Marines have stopped small unit patrols from small bases dotting the countryside in neighboring Helmund Province, and are resorting to raids from a few consolidated bases. The tactic isolates them from the populace which they are supposedly trying to pacify and protect. British sources suggest that the US will start drawing down forces at the end of next March in order to meet Forty-four's date of July, 2011 for beginning an end to conventional warfare.
