People in Washington D.C. argue about military policy to pursue in Afghanistan, General McChyrstal demands he be given 40,000 more troops, and the people of those areas under attack complain they are the ones who wind up being the victim. Two US soldiers were missing which led to a search patrol which resulted in an armed conflict with Taliban forces which led to an air strike which resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians. The story never ends. At the core of this tragedy is the lack of an Afghan army which could deal with the Taliban and the need to depend upon US and Coalition forces and they lack the numbers to deal with the numerous Taliban forces.

President Karzai argues he will fight “corruption,” whatever that means. He will not and a corrupt, ineffective government can not successfully deal with the Taliban. Sorry, General McChyrstal, neither 40,000 or 60,00 will do the job.