People are confused about the war. The situation is difficult to resolve even for those who are here. For most of us, the conflict remains out of focus, lacking reference of almost any sort. Vertigo leaves us seeking orientation from places like Vietnam—where most of us never have been. So sad are our motley pundits-cum-navigators that those who have never have been to Afghanistan or Vietnam shamelessly use one to reference the other. We saw this in Iraq.

The most we can do is pay attention, study hard, and try to bring something into focus that is always rolling, yawing, and seemingly changing course randomly, in more dimensions than even astronauts must consider. All while gauging dozens of factors, such as Afghan Opinion, Coalition Will, Enemy Will and Capacity, Resources, Regional Actors (and, of course, the Thoroughly Unexpected). Nobody will ever understand all these dynamic factors and track them at once and through time. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that a tiger doesn’t need to completely understand the jungle to survive, navigate, and then dominate. It is not necessary to know every anthropological and historical nuance of the people here. If that were the case, our Coalition of over forty nations would not exist. More important is to realize that they are humans like us. They get hungry, happy, sad, and angry; they make friends and enemies (to the Nth degree); they are neither supermen nor vermin. They’re just people.

Take the time to read it all.

Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Foreign Relations • War in Afghanistan

1. Branford wrote: Michael Yon has done great reporting - and he’s funded by his readers, not by a big media group. If you like what he’s done, consider supporting him. December 13, 6:50 pm | [comment link]

2. Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) wrote: What makes Yon so utterly superb is that he is former Special Forces. The man understands as very few others what’s going on strategically and what’s happening when things go kinetic. If you have not read it, by all means read Yon’s Gates of Fire from 2005, and read it all. It is already becoming the iconic piece of reportage from the Iraq theatre of the war. December 13, 7:22 pm | [comment link]

3. Tired of Hypocrisy wrote: Thanks, excellent report. December 13, 8:03 pm | [comment link]

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