Hamid Karzai came to America to ask for help, and he’s not getting much for his trouble. President Bush has ruled out using US forces to expand the peacekeeping effort in Afghanistan, despite the fact that Karzai wants a larger peacekeeping force so that peacekeepers can be deployed beyond Kabul, and the “man on the street” interviews I read from Afghanistan all seem to be with people in favor of more foreign troops. One thing we are going to do is help them establish a real military and system of law enforcement, which is good.

What really irks me is this Bush quote: “”The United States is committed to playing a leading role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.” Wouldn’t a leading role involve actually putting up the cash that Afghanistan needs to rebuild? We shouldn’t let Bush have it both ways. You can’t jibe playing a leading role with the “we paid for the war, somebody else has to pay for the peace” sentiment that has been widely expressed by the Bush administration.