If Karzai is this Pessimistic, Why are We Doubling Down in Afghanistan?

• The American war strategy rests largely on clearing ground held by the Taliban so that Mr. Karzai’s army and government can move in, allowing the Americans to scale back their involvement in an increasingly unpopular and costly war.
• The Americans and their NATO partners are pouring tens of thousands of additional troops into the country to weaken hard-core Taliban and force the group to the bargaining table. Mr. Karzai appears to believe that the American-led offensive cannot work.

What reason is there to believe that Karzai will really fight the Taliban? Mr. President, please reconsider the US support for this hopeless cause. Afghanistan does not want nor is it able to be a democracy and corruption is too ingrained in the culture. No Afghan leader will further our interests once we are gone, yet we now have around 100,000 troops there. Why?

For those Americans who support the war but also worry about government spending, do you have any idea how much this war costs and how much more troops deployed adds to that cost?
- posted by john @ 4:36 PM