Here's a radio broadcast of a lecture by Sarah Chayes - the NPR correspondent who stayed in Afghanistan to run a NGO (and is one of the women I cite below).
Listen to this - it's just damn interesting perspective from someone with dirty shoes.
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That was really valuable. Some things about Afghan war policy that didn't make much sense before (You're making corruption in Afghanistan a focus? Are you mad or just masochistic?), make more sense now.
Her points about the limits of the "Iraq awakening" model are also valid ones. The problem is that the Taliban are centralized force, which needs an equally capable counter. Somehow, that circle must be squared in a way that meshes with Afghan culture and norms.