Bombings and other ill tidings

Things here in Afghanistan can be hairy these days.

The AP (via MSNBC) runs down the latest violence in this article.

All I can say is that in spite of all of that, we continue to go about the business of nation building with a great deal of enthusiasm and hope. We don't kid ourselves that "success" (whatever that means) is guaranteed. But incremental progress remains a reality, and a meaningful one at that.

I've had the chance recently to attend a number of conferences--last week in Kabul with the UN, and then this week here at BAF with US agencies (state and USAID, mostly). Everyone is realistic about the prospects here, and about how long the job here will take. There are no silver bullets or quick fixes. Some provinces are really on the up and up (Bamian and Panjshir, for example). Other provinces are struggling w/ violence.

It's interesting to read Jason talk about how easy it is to spend money in Iraq right now. Here in Afghanistan, we are not the main effort. We do not get resourced the way Iraq does. Money is being spent, and in a major way...but I think that all of the agencies involved (UN, State, military) would agree that there is a fixed resource pool here at the Forward Edge that all of us are grabbing at.