Friday, November 13, 2009

On Afghanistan

Fascinating look at the debate on Afghanistan troop levels. Here's what it looks like to me:
 
1) Increasing troop levels there would stabilize the region and help us create a better Afghanistan
2) If we do stabilize it, we have to focus on building a police force, an army and an infrastructure to ensure it's stable when we leave, which will hopefully be sooner rather than later
3) Whether those outcomes above are better than the opportunity costs (in lives, geopolitical stability and economic progress) of the money spent on the war is highly arguable, and I'm not sure there's a simple answer. There's also a moral issue - can we just pull out of a country we invaded that really wants us to stay? Finally, there's a precedent issue - who will help us again when we actually need to invade if we gave up in Afghanistan halfway?

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