November 12, 2009 12:40 PM
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If you were someone in the former government looking to return to power, the USA isn't making that easy and the USA credibility is high.
If you are someone in the existing government wondering if your retention of power will survive the USA exit someday in the future, then some part of the USA credibility is frighteningly high, since the burden of survival will someday fall into your own hands.
If you are someone in a neighboring country, the USA presence is seen as a smaller part of a larger picture, since we are not the only country there, but the credibility still exists.
The answer to what Afghanistan's future is - lies in the hands of the Afghanistan people. Part of the Afghanistan country are still occupied by Taliban. Afghanistan is a divided country. Whether they are to be peaceful or hostile with each other, it is their choice.
Capitalism doesn't work well in Islamic economic systems, since the premise of our banking system backbone contradicts Islamic ideology. They don't believe in paying interest for a loan. Our experience with Iran gave us 26 years of experience to learn that such ideals are branded as "Western" and rejected by clerics.
This permits all the economic power to become centralized in a few people's hands. In Muslim views (and capitalists), the most prohibited things in life command the highest pricetags and business gravitates to develope industries around a distribution system of forbidden commodities.
It isn't clear what the world will accept Afghanistan producing for export to sustain itself.
Many countries scoff that the USA really isn't doing anything to stop the opium trade and accuse the USA of making it stronger in Afghanistan.
If the USA leaves Afghanistan with a thriving opium industry, it will become the GOP's most effective weapon against Democrats in future elections.
150,000 people will have to die to end the opium trade in Afghanistan. The world won't connect those dots so easily and accept it as solution. The USA led coalition can accomplish this and then later see that the opium trade moves somewhere else, leaving 150,000 deaths on hands of US-led coalition and a thriving opium trade in another part of the world.
alQueida is one of many black market organizations aspiring for wealth and power in the world. It isn't exactly a country or a political party that can be dealt with by the Department of State with diplomatic channels.
Capitalists need to give credit to socialists around the world for one thing - Socialists did a far better job out of conquering their drug and crime problems.
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave