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>However, only in hindsight is it obvious that Afghanistan could not be turned around, to reverse the decades-long descent into tribal mob rule. I don't think
by LatteLazy 5y ago
>However, only in hindsight is it obvious that Afghanistan could not be turned around, to reverse the decades-long descent into tribal mob rule.
I don't think this is true at all. I think we knew from Japan, Korea and other "projects" that it works but it takes generations.
We knew that before going in.
We know it now even though it suits people to pretend it's impossible and that people in Afghanistan are somehow different to people literally everywhere else...
Its exactly this sort of ignoring of known facts that gives the US a bad name. The US is great at shock and awe and giving up.
- Amezarak 5y agoActive nation-building in Afghanistan has lasted 20 years, compared to ~7 in Japan and I'm not sure exactly what you'd count in Korea.
- LatteLazy 5y agoJapan was already a highly literate, secular, capitalist society when nation building started. And they're still not really a democracy (they only recently changed governing party for instance, or take a look at their attitudes to criminal justice). The US has had one foot out of the door of Afghanistan since day one. In Japan the US wanted an ally against the communists. Rebuilding was important. In Afghanistan, the US had no such need. So we didn't bother. You can build nations (eg Japan). It takes longer when you're working from a rougher starting place. I don't think these are unreasonable points of view. Nor were they novel before Sept 11th 2001. I should say the coalition or nato rather than the US for a lot of the above. Plenty of other countries followed along on an obvious bad idea.
- incrudible 5y agoI don't think you can find anything remotely comparable in US history that would give you the answer as to whether this mission was feasible or not, ahead of time.