Rebuilding Afghanistan

The big news today is that 2014 has been announced as the pullout deadline for the US in Afghanistan. In other news today--and arguably "bigger" news--we started sending war tanks in to that country for the first time in the war. Whenever an administration announces "good news" for a bad situation, it's always fun to see if you can find what they're trying to distract you from. Now, no matter what concerns someone raises about the tanks, a good portion of the public supportive of the administration will reply with, "I'm not worried...they're pulling out by 2014! Didn't you hear?"

The funniest part of the article is the last few paragraphs, which I will post for you here:

In another recent operation in the Zhari district, U.S. soldiers fired more than a dozen mine-clearing line charges in a day. Each one creates a clear path that is 100 yards long and wide enough for a truck. Anything that is in the way - trees, crops, huts - is demolished.

"Why do you have to blow up so many of our fields and homes?" a farmer from the Arghandab district asked a top NATO general at a recent community meeting.

Although military officials are apologetic in public, they maintain privately that the tactic has a benefit beyond the elimination of insurgent bombs. By making people travel to the district governor's office to submit a claim for damaged property, "in effect, you're connecting the government to the people," the senior officer said.