Writing From Kandahar, Afghanistan -- As President Obama unveils his Afghanistan strategy, he should know that a flurry of warnings by U.S. officials urging lowered expectations has not fallen on deaf ears in Afghanistan.
"I guess we were wrong to hope for anything really new from the new American government," sighed one of the members of my cooperative as we peeled Chinese pears recently by the light of kerosene lamps.
"I guess we were wrong to hope for anything really new from the new American government," sighed one of the members of my cooperative as we peeled Chinese pears recently by the light of kerosene lamps.
I tried to reassure him. The declarations were just politics, aimed at a domestic audience, I said. Hadn't Obama declared Afghanistan his top international priority? Wasn't he assigning the most talented U.S. officials to the problem? Wasn't he sending more troops? My colleague, with a jaded glance, handed me a slice of pear.
Read Full Article »