No Answers In Afghanistan

Today General Stanley McChrystal released his report on NATO strategy in Afghanistan. The report states, "success is achievable and demands a revised implementation strategy, commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort." The report was delayed until after the Afghanistan elections as so not to interfere with local politics.
One thing the report did not include was any recommendation regarding troop numbers. The White House says such suggestions will come at a later date. There are scheduled to be 68,000 American troops in Afghanistan by 2010, bringing the number of NATO troops to over 100,000. More troops, however, means more troops in harm's way. August was the deadliest month of the eight-year war so far, with 47 American deaths. The number of IEDs in July doubled from the same month the previous year, to over 800.
Further complicating matters is the criminal behavior fueling the Taliban resistance. Estimates place the income of the Taliban at $70 million from the illegal drug trade alone. However, the Taliban operate like a crime syndicate, taking protection money and ransoms for kidnappings. About a quarter of public and private budgets go to either security or protection rackets. This includes those of foreign private contractors, meaning tax-payers of the US, UK, Germany and dozens of other NATO allies are helping to fund the Taliban.
So this is where things get really complicated. If a major source of income for everyday Afghanis comes from illegal activities, kidnappings and poppy farming, then a legitimate legal economy must be built from the ground up. Also, last week's presidential election has come under fire for voting irregularities, and the results haven't even been announced. Here we have all the makings of a failed state.
And this is where United States national security comes in. After September 11th, 2001, Afghanistan was the right war, but the US has squandered so many opportunities in the years since. We cannot afford to pull out, lose this war, and return Afghanistan to the Taliban. This is not Iraq, where there existed a secular, yet totalitarian, regime. US failure in Afghanistan would no doubt return the country to a caliphate.
This is what people mean when they say that we must allow little girls to go to school. Those people are not part of some global feminist movement, they are talking about the rule of law. A modern society cannot function when 25% of funding for roads and schools goes to criminals. Yet, presently, Afghanistan's leadership is corrupt, as is it's tribal system. General McChrystal has sent a memo to all NATO troops, "We will not win simply by killing insurgents. We must get the people involved as active participants in the success of their communities." To grow a new, modern economy from the ground up will require patience, and blood. NATO must defend the population from those who wish to disrupt the development, and bring in local labor to build local infrastructure using local resources. As one Afghani Minister of the Interior said, "the community will protect what the community has built." However, NATO is playing defense, and as troop deaths increase and time drags on with no military victories on the nightly news, will Americans have the commitment and resolve to build Afghanistan into the modern country it has never been.