Let me ask about an apparent tension in your comments. You write that “While many Afghans do not see the Taliban favorably, they are essentially forced to accept their rule.” Yet you also write that “Just as the Palestinians voted for Hamas, the Afghans are choosing the Taliban because they view the government as corrupt and unable to provide the basic needs and services they require.

It seems to me it can't be both. If people are forced to accept Taliban rule, they can't see it as the lesser of various evils. Personally, I think it comes down to security at a local level. If US and Afghan forces don't provide, Taliban intimidation prevails. If we provide security (including protection from our own ordnance), people will support US and Afghan forces, even if they have no love for the thieves in Kabul.

I don't know what “seeking to increase” means, but seeking and doing are very different. They tried “advisors” in Vietnam against an insurgency and it didn't work. Rather laughable assertion that somehow it will work in Afghanistan.

The problem with Afghans, is that they are medieval warring tribes, not a nation. We cannot bring them a thousand years into the future within anything near a generation and a generation is too long to afford.

We need to leave Afghanistan.