afghans again

for the past several weeks, i have tortured myself trying to come up with a solution for the shit show that is our afghanistan issue, and every time i think i've pinned down my opinion, i talk myself out of it. or i let others talk me out of it.

you see, i am torn first by limited resources. and then by other things. and other people.

putting aside things like money, loss of life, a commitment the american people aren't likely to buy into, and the fact that afghanistan is an historical graveyard of empires, if i had my druthers, we'd go all in. we would commit to building a democratic afghanistan. and we'd do it by empowering the local 'warlords' to become leaders and governors.

we'd help them build roads and farms, schools and hospitals, and give them the tools they need to form a more perfect union. one in which more than 28% of its population is educated, where women have access to equality, education, and opportunity, where farmers can farm something other than opium, and where we can stabilize pakistan's neighbor. we would, in a sense, organize afghan communities.

whether or not there's a strong central government a la the united states of america, or whether there's something a bit more loose a la the short-lived confederate states of america (which seems more likely when considering the present afghani administration), the key is in building the local governments, as an upshot of the current political structure. and then asking them to convene for a big constitutional convention to fine-tune their current government into something more akin to effective governance.

there are those who argue we go all in, regardless of the ability of the afghans to eventually govern themselves. 'let's just go in guns a blazin and kill some terrorists,' if you will. cuz, yeah, that's a great use of our armed services and resources. just because general mcchrystal says we need 40,000 more troops, we should just send them in, without asking questions or coming up with a strategic plan, doesn't quite cut it for me. especially when reality suggests that any sort of afghanistan initiative is going to commit us to a minimum of ten years (and that's only if things go perfectly between now and 2020), with a more plausible time line of about a hundred years.

and i'm not sure how much weight i can give the argument that our end goal is meant to be about eradicating al queda and eliminating the taliban control over any part of afghanistan (at this moment in time, the taliban is gaining control in the eastern part of afhanistan, near the pakistani border, just as they gain power in pakistan. this latter development is enough to worry the bejeesus out of much of the free world that the terroristy taliban is positioned to topple president zardari and seize control of a country in possession of nuclear weapons (fucking scary, eh!?)).

i think our strategy needs to have more to do with regional stability than simply some dumb 'war on terror'. and the only way we can ensure regional stability, enough to help afghanistan learn to effectively govern itself, is to build a nation. and asking americans to sign up for a multi-generational nation-building project is not something i've quite figured out how to do (though i'm working on it).

and at what expense? (this is where that little issue of limited resources comes into play).

i mean, america hasn't had a load of debt this high since the last time we set out to rebuild the world via the marshall plan after world war ii. with china holding all the cards to our continual descent into the dungeons of debt, while our economy seems to be averting a rebound (except for those asshats on wall street whose egregious risk to main streeters is still earning them egregious sums of money (at the same time consumer lenders are spiralling down into the shit tank along with the rest of us)), can we really afford to go all in?

i dunno.

and ultimately, if i have to pick between healthcare for all americans or healthcare for all afghans...

well then, the end.

~k

my favorite recipe

for all of you who like to read blogs about recipes, here's one for you:

1 glass of ice
1 double pour of bourbon

the end.

~k

it's not a snuggie!

i'm sure you've seen the commercials, or at the very least bill maher's ongoing satirical poke, for snuggies. i just want to state for the record that i do not, will not, and cannot, own one. so, would all of you people stop walking in my door and assuming that's a snuggie you see on my couch?

cuz it's not.

the end.

~k

schindler's list

i have so much i could be writing about right now (nobel peace prizes, finishing 'truman', afghanistan on my mind), but here i am doing a movie review (which is kinda hilarious since i almost never watch movies).

i hate steven spielberg for making a movie that's making me have to talk myself out of killing myself. which i might be able to do if i wasn't so emotionally exhausted. so much so that my tear ducts hurt.

fer reals, why does it hurt so much to know that people've done that, and still do that, to each other?

~k

fall 'en potus

summer has finally ended, and in its place is perfection. and to make up for the absence of autumn leaves, i got to meet president clinton last night. because i am a bad ass.

the end.

~k

fantastically ferrying

i am in san francisco, my other favorite city, and this week proves that mine is a very charmed life.

cuz, well, i am working here, and it's much like it is when i'm working in dc. i feel like i'm part of the city, the hustle and bustle, and the general ambiance that gives it the character and culture that makes it so beautiful.

this time is especially amazing in large part because, for the past two days, i've been commuting by ferry from sausalito. i've been waking up to a sun rising over san francisco and its bay bridge, then boarding a ferry that rides the waves of the bay to the ferry building, a few blocks from my office. the evening trip, btw, is unbelievable. on the ride back to sausalito, the sun sets behind and beneath the golden gate bridge, and it really is breathtaking.

the best part is that i know where i am, what i'm doing, and where i'm going in a city other than my own. all of which makes me feel like the awesomest person EVER!

the end.

~k

frank rich

is my hero. and i really hate it when he's on vacation, because the sunday times just isn't the same without him.

obama at the precipice

~k