Wesley Clark: What We Must Do Now - Newsweek: International Editions - MSNBC.com

Wesley Clark: What We Must Do Now - Newsweek: International Editions - MSNBC.com

Some analysis of why we are going to have to begin "Nation building," before we can withdraw from our current hotzones in the Middle East. By ret. General Wesley Clark.

The fact is that Afghanistan was a tribal country savaged by 20 years of war and further brutalized by the fundamentalist Taliban. Its infrastructure, educational system, agriculture—all was gone. With the Taliban in retreat, traditional warlords reestablished themselves. Vital political and economic assistance never arrived. Neither did a sufficiently strong international security force. Instead, a few thousand U.S. troops were inserted to pursue the remnants of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The government of Hamid Karzai, pieced together, was never able to extend its reach much outside Kabul. The results today are a mockery of early optimism. Despite the presence of almost 40,000 NATO troops, security has worsened. Opium has again become a major business, infrastructure redevelopment lags, schools remain closed—and across great swathes of the country the Taliban is resurgent.