>The Pentagon definitely doesn't censor his email, but he's an officer
>in charge of a unit. He's not the censoring type, so his troops
>probably have quite a bit of leeway. I don't know if the Pentagon has
>a mail censoring policy in place.
I guess it would be very difficult to censor emails.
>It is going to take a very long time. When I asked my friend whether
>the US will have a contingent there for as long as, say, Korea, he
>says he doesn't know.
If the US/NATO forces withdraw, Pakistani army/ISI will seize the opportunity to fill in the vacuum. The question is whether there will be an indigenous political force in Afghanistan that will unify it and create/sustain a viable state apparatus. I suppose that's true of Iraq as well.
> Right now they want to hand off as much to NATO
>as possible and control the purse strings on infrastructure
>development. He says their focus is on roads, schools, water/sewage
>systems and health clinics.
Yes that's what I meant: Infrastructure. If Afghanistan can be largely demined in next 10 years, it will be a step forward. Btw, Afghanistan wants to join SAARC. (Even Iran is not averse to joining SAARC.) Unfortunately SAARC has so far proved to be a moribund organisation. Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka are in crisis. It's hard to say how far integration with SAARC can help Afghanistan.
Ulhas