Afghan War Not Over Yet

CNN.com - U.S. forces move on al Qaeda targets along Pakistan border - May 1, 2002

See, this is what I meant when I said that we've only had just enough success in the War. Things haven't been going perfectly, and they aren't over yet! I strongly suspect that there will be battles fought inside Pakistan before things are really "finished" in that part of the world. I can only hope these won't be battles against the Pakistani military...

The reason "finished" is in quotes up there is simple... when the military fight against Al Qaeda is finished, there will still be many, many things to do in Afghanistan. That country is ripe for a demonstration of what I'm talking about with this blog. We should outlay the cash and the people to rebuild that country... not just "help" rebuild it, we should stay and make sure it gets done. I mean completely rebuilt, too, not just started on the road to recovery. Obviously, we can't really do that, yet. But we can stay until certain things are accomplished. We should make sure the countryside has enough infrastructure that even farmboys (and girls) can go to school. We should make sure all the "major cities" have electricity and running water. The ultimate goal is having not just a McDonald's in Kabul (because that would be silly and stupid at this point), but making it so the people can afford a McDonald's! So, there will need to be industry... but we have to do it right, unlike standard globalization. They should not be treated as cheap labor, we should build up the infrastructure to the point where they are a viable trading partner, instead of a client-state. This will probably take 20 years, looking at the examples of Germany and Japan. But in the long run, it will enrich the lives of everyone involved, including us. After all, that's a nice Sony TV, ne?