Tali-ho

Here's a nuanced report from the Guardian on the state of Afghanistan after one year. Since it's an actual reported piece, it has the virtue of satisfying nobody. The usual platitudes about kite-flying and Afghan music bump up against some sorry realities: nine out of ten women are still wearing the burqa, and male drivers try to run them down at intersections. Optimists convinced radical Islam must inevitably fall like the USSR before the free market will come away empty-handed, but so will failurists who worry/hope that a new era of chaos is right around the corner. And as irritating as it is to hear another Brit talking about America's need to keep ministering to the people living in darkness, the pitiful amount of aid that has arrived in Afghanistan is truly daunting.