Everybody Must Get Stoned

by digby

General Barry McCaffrey on Hardball:

The key is, can we create an Afghan security force that in a couple or three years will replace us? That’s the real question on the table.

Let’s just say, it’s a long shot:

As someone who has spent time in Afghanistan, Howie pointed out that the thing that nobody seems to want to admit about Afghanistan is that it’s not actually a country, its a bunch of tribes. And everybody’s stoned — their culture is organized around growing opium and they have the best hash in the world.

This is not a value judgment. It’s just an observation of a strong, thousand year old culture and thinking US soldiers can change it in a “couple, three years” is so absurd you just know they aren’t even remotely serious about doing it.

But hey, maybe that’s what they’ve got the DEA doing over there. After all, it’s been such a roaring success here in the US.

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