Trying to explain that to people is like shouting in the wind my friend, it is a fruitless exercise. If the yanks really wanted they could have levelled the country in a flash and called it a day, Afghanistan was an experiment in nation building, but an expensive one and one they will not soon repeat. Having worked in Afghanistan as you know I have mentioned before; it was surreal, outside of Kabul everything was underdeveloped, corrupt ALP (Local Police) roamed and demanded bakhsheesh and were basically Taliban in government uniforms.
Kabul was a strange city to visit, it was like a mirage in an otherwise desolate space. Countless SIGAR reports have mentioned how the elected government, rampant corruption and security breaches by interpreters and local contractors working on building contracts etc were funnelling funds and intel to the Talibs. During 2004,2005 and 2006 the yanks even attempted to promote co-working between Pakistan/Afghan law enforcement where their officers came to Islamabad for training at our National Police Academy, I have shared data about this before.
All that ended when Karzai got a bee in his bonnet with the NDS headed by Amrullah Saleh and his newly appointed (pseudo-intellectual) analyst Popal Roshana who was promoted 10 grades above her rank started sowing anti-Pakistani propaganda whilst in Islamabad and when challenged by Islamabad and even saner voices in Kabul all the malba was dumped on Islamabad's doorstep by the Karzai government, that Pakistan was harbouring talib's on the border and launching attacks inside Afghanistan to destabilise the government.
Long story short - If the US wanted the Afghan war could have ended in one day!
