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By Elizabeth Wellesley |
First of all, people who already have a functioning government think it’s very simple, and they always seem to know what everyone else should do. The American people look at Afghanistan and say, “Oh, it’s such a beautiful country. I’m sure there are plenty of functioning governments that would love to organize its tribal regions, if only it were a little more outgoing. Maybe Afghanistan should join the UN.” |
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But it’s not that easy. Afghanistan has been a failed state for decades, and it’s hard to get back into democracy again. Even if it did, it has kind of a reputation now.
Industrialized nations get to Afghanistan, they have a nice dinner, and you can tell they’d like to try to govern it. But then Afghanistan starts talking about its three territorial leaders and their personalities, and maybe a couple of funny stories about how they interact with each other, and suddenly the foreign countries start to get that look.
You can tell what they’re thinking: Afghanistan is crazy. If they try to govern Afghanistan once, it could turn into a multi-year commitment.
The whole thing got worse with the Wikileaks, especially all the civilian casualty reports—an average of about three a day. People find that number unsettling. Lots of wars have one civilian casualty report a day. People can understand that; it’s a war, after all, and when you’re in a country alone a civilian casualty report is a good way to pass the time. Even two would be okay. But three—once they hear three, people start to think you might be one of those civilian casualty countries.
