Okay, I've read your article. It sounds like a horrible mess. My family has known people from Pakistan and in Pakistan since the 1970s. Anyone we know there now is pretty desperate to get out, because the present conditions are very bad and it looks likely to only get worse. Things could hardly be more different than they were a few decades ago. The entire area has been grossly destabilized by the Aghan War and Pakistan has suffered terribly because of it.

I see nothing in it that would make me happy, needless to say, and I misconstrued your original intent in linking to the article.

I don't think there is any realistic chance whatsoever for the West to secure a final victory in Afghanistan or to wipe out the Taliban or Al Queda. The West should evacuate their troops from that region, just as the Soviets did before them. The West should not be building military bases in Middle Eastern countries or fighting wars on their territory. They should leave those people alone to sort out their own affairs, and leave them alone to market their oil as they choose to, and then there'd be no further reason for Al Queda to attack the West. They are doing it because of our foreign policy, not because we have "democracy" or "liberty". The Afghans have been fighting tribal wars amongst themselves and wars of unremitting resistance to any foreign presence since time immemorial and they always outlast the foreigners. The British discovered that in the 1800s. The Soviets discovered it in the 1980s. America and its present coalition have yet to discover it. That is a war that cannot be won, in my opinion, and that should never have been fought.