fair enough. but 2 comments:

it seems as though we put a great deal of effort into karzai and he and his government have proven to be ineffective. is that not the case? i think the sense of frustration rises when it begins to appear to even the most ardent supporters that we will have to re-invent or prop up a succession of governments until the combination of strategies can bear fruit. is this a reasonable inference in your opinion or do you think we can work with what we’ve got now and build from there if we only change our strategy?

second, i think your emphasis on commenters’ frustration with the afghan people is well-taken but a little too shrill; there is ample reason, with all the good faith in the world, to take the Afghans in general for savages. it doesn’t require xenophobia, social darwinist tendencies, or worse. your point about katrina ripping off the veneer of civilization is also well-taken, but if the entire country was constantly in a post-Katrina Hobbesian state, the project you describe would look pretty daunting here too. iraq post-petraeus is still just iraq; it seems as though afghanistan post-petraeus would have to be something much more than afghanistan.