What Afghans want

Michael Cohen at Democracy Arsenal has a great post on the flawed logic at the core of US policy in Afghanistan:

…our goal in Southern Afghanistan is not simply to defeat the Taliban, but also to protect the Afghan people and encourage them to side with the government against the insurgents…every available indication suggests that [US] military intervention in Afghanistan will not only likely fail to accomplish these goals, but may actually inflame Afghan public opinion against NATO…

If truly the population is the center of gravity in the COIN [counter-insurgency] fight . . . why are we ignoring the population?  Why are we taking steps that they almost unanimously oppose and that will likely get many of them killed?

This might work if Josh is right that “inside every Afghan is an American trying to get out.” Otherwise, I agree with Cohen, its hard to see the logic here. On the bright side, Cohen gives a shout-out to one of my favorite programs in Afghanistan, Government in a Box!