"Under pressure from Congress to show progress by next spring, Obama administration officials had hoped that the election would show that Afghanistan was moving forward enough to justify more money and troops. If the election produces a government that even Afghanis do not consider legitimate, that task could be impossible".

"The lesson of failed counter-insurgency wars everywhere is that they are lost not just because of the insurgents’ capacity for violence, but because of the government’s incompetence, corruption and unpopularity".