[PornoDoggy]

I've always thought that anyone who objected to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan should be personally delivered to a location where they can personally convey their feelings to the Taliban.

I don't want anything blown up my ass - neither gloom and doom or sunshine. The elections this weekend were a very significant first step in one hell of a long road, but any suggestion that they are more than that is grasping at straws.

The most significant event in these elections is the one that didn't happen - there has been no major Taliban attempt to distrupt them reported.

Women voted, women ran for office, girls are going to school in some places ... that's wonderful. Again, a major beginning toward entering the 20th century - but only a beginning.

A place where 40% of a 5 billion dollar GNP is opium has a long way to go . A place where government control of significant areas of the country is nominal at best - and when a big chunk of that territory borders a similar area of an ally du jour who has failed to establish control for 50 years, the scope of the problem becomes clear. A place where huge sections of the country aren't safe enough for the do-gooders in most NGOs (who have more balls than sense in many instances) has a long way to go.

The kinds of stories that tug at western hearts - Suzy Creamcheese Abdulla attending her first day of school, Abdullah Abdullah Abdullah walking barefoot twenty miles to the polls (uphill both ways) - reflect some positive steps, but these are steps that can be wiped out very, very quickly. It's way too early to crow about our victory - we've only just begun.

My biggest concern about Afghanistan is that the problem is larger than can be fixed within the relatively short timeframe provided by Western - particularly American - attention spans.