Was 20 Years Enough?

Two prominent members of the blob, Condeleeza Rice and Ryan Crocker, maintain we simply weren’t patient enough with the Afghan government. Twenty years, they say, is too short a period to deal with the problems of such a troubled country. Is there any merit to this position?

Let’s put it this way: they probably think the Cuban trade embargo is about to topple the regime after 60 years, too. If things aren’t improving after 20 years, and you don’t have any new ideas as to how to fix the problems, kicking the can for another decade or two probably isn’t going to bear any fruit.