Comments on: “Government in a Box” in Marja?

By: Afghan “Gov’t-in-a-box” Has a Rap Sheet « LobeLog.com

Afghan “Gov’t-in-a-box” Has a Rap Sheet « LobeLog.com — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:07:29 +0000

[...] weeks ago I blogged some meandering thoughts on “government-in-a-box,” a neologism for the “hold, build” part of [...]

By: scott

scott — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:23:49 +0000

Damn James, you know Sharia functions based on the consent of the governed. It’s not like our politicians know anything of Voltaire or Montesquieu either. They don’t believe in Habeas Corpus, the First Amendment nor the Tenth. So, it’s kinda ironic to get democracy lessons from the Quran.

By: scott

scott — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:50:56 +0000

Once again you’ve scooped the media. “Gov’t in a box?” the phrase sounded awful to me. I thought perhaps you had taken some license to pillory this proposal.

But no, NPR does a report Monday on the “Gov’t in a Box” Thanks again, you allow me to stay ahead of the game, and take a meta-read of the news. That latter reading is kinda disturbing. All echo and PR, very little reporting.

By: James Salmon

James Salmon — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:52:51 +0000

I don’t think people are overly caught up in ideas about the legitimacy of the government. Of course everyone sees that the government is there only through US military force, but that’s really not a big deal. Might makes right over there and has for centuries. Instead people are mostly just pissed that it’s so corrupt. If it weren’t, the fact that it is US installed wouldn’t be an issue.

Does anyone seriously think we’re putting in a liberal democracy? Like Iraq I think that idea, if it ever was serious, was given up long ago and replaced with just trying to get a functional government in place. All these provincial and district level officials are appointed. Elections are only for national office.

So government in a box is just that, trying to get a functional government in place. If it works then it’ll be legitimate. I don’t mean that arrogantly, I just mean the Afghans aren’t sitting around reading Voltaire and Montesquieu and getting all up in arms over government deriving its power from the consent of the governed.

It may work in Marja at first but only because it’ll be a high priority. The place will be like a Potemkin Village but after a while I’m pretty sure things will eventually degenerate to the level of governance elsewhere.

By: Jon Harrison

Jon Harrison — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:44:49 +0000

Very interesting questions. Anybody got any answers? Certainly this operation, and particularly the aftermath, should tell us a lot about whether or not Afghanistan is a “winnable” war.