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> Not everyone wants democracy right now. Have you looked up polls of Afghanistan’s citizens on whether they want a democratic election process, whether they p

> Not everyone wants democracy right now. Have you looked up polls of Afghanistan’s citizens on whether they want a democratic election process, whether they preferred life under the Taliban, etc? They overwhelmingly preferred the state of things under the US’s support and overwhelmingly support democracy. They can’t fight for it because they fear being shot or beheaded by Taliban terrorists. To read their lack of resistance as a rejection of democracy is to deny everyday Afghanis their agency just because they want to survive to see tomorrow.

jessaustin 5y ago
Phone-based polling is a challenge in poorer nations.
mc32 5y ago
Twenty years of support was not enough? Did they need 100? If it doesn’t work within 2-5 years, it’s not going to work. Cut your losses and run. Maybe there was some support for this in some areas of Kabul, but certainly not in the countryside.
- throwawaysea 5y ago
  > If it doesn’t work within 2-5 years, it’s not going to work. Cut your losses and run. That seems very arbitrary. I would say twenty years is not enough, because a longer time period would mean that older, experienced Taliban fighters and organizers would be too old to continue their activities or just dead. It also isn't enough time if we haven't done a good job managing our efforts there, and we needed better leadership and accountability around our efforts to establish the new government and their military (more at https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/08/how-america-failed-afghanistan/619740/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/08/how-americ...). I cannot understand why you think 2-5 years is the magic time to judge an effort like this by. Do you think that's true for everything in life? If a company can't IPO in 2 years they should just cut their losses and run? > Maybe there was some support for this in some areas of Kabul, but certainly not in the countryside. What's your evidence for this? Every poll I could find on Google suggests there is broad support for democracy in Afghanistan.

jessaustin 5y ago

Phone-based polling is a challenge in poorer nations.

mc32 5y ago

Twenty years of support was not enough? Did they need 100? If it doesn’t work within 2-5 years, it’s not going to work. Cut your losses and run. Maybe there was some support for this in some areas of Kabul, but certainly not in the countryside.

throwawaysea 5y ago
> If it doesn’t work within 2-5 years, it’s not going to work. Cut your losses and run. That seems very arbitrary. I would say twenty years is not enough, because a longer time period would mean that older, experienced Taliban fighters and organizers would be too old to continue their activities or just dead. It also isn't enough time if we haven't done a good job managing our efforts there, and we needed better leadership and accountability around our efforts to establish the new government and their military (more at https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/08/how-america-failed-afghanistan/619740/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/08/how-americ...). I cannot understand why you think 2-5 years is the magic time to judge an effort like this by. Do you think that's true for everything in life? If a company can't IPO in 2 years they should just cut their losses and run? > Maybe there was some support for this in some areas of Kabul, but certainly not in the countryside. What's your evidence for this? Every poll I could find on Google suggests there is broad support for democracy in Afghanistan.