In which I agree with Tom Friedman

Not with every word. But Friedman highlights the key problem with nation-building in Afghanistan.

Because when you are mounting a counterinsurgency campaign, the local government is the critical bridge between your troops and your goals. If that government is rotten, your whole enterprise is doomed.

The counterinsurgency enthusiasts tend to gloss over this inconvenient fact. Richard Fontaine and John Nagl -- both from the Center for a New American Security -- actually argued, in a not-very-convincing Los Angeles Times op-ed on Monday, that Karzai's corruption helps the COIN strategy.

But even Gen. Stanley McChrystal admits that Karzai's corruption greatly undermines U.S. efforts, according to the AP.