One Quarter of the Afghan Vote Was Cast by Pack of Wild Monkeys; Situation Dire

Well, Afghanistan, you've got a mess on your hands.  A lot of mess.  A quarter of your votes could be tainted!  That's Chicago bad.  The good/bad news is that this isn't the worst of your problems.  The top general in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has essentially stated that the situation is dire in the remote nation. 


So, what's to do other than panic?  Well, Pakistan would not like it if we left Afghanistan wishing it was more like the Lord of the Flies and popular opinion shows that people really don't want the U.S. there much longer.  U.S. allies are also growing increasingly tired of Afghanistan (see this post over at fivethirtyeight.com).  Who can really blame them? 

The course of action should be to get Afghanistan as stable as possible.  Due to the remoteness of the country, an Iraq-like surge would probably not have the same return on investment.  It is looking more like Algeria during the French occupation.  There is vast distrust of the occupiers and spurts of violence against them.  Now, I am not an expert in nation building, counter-insurgency or military tactics, but it seems that the cities are relatively safe (as evidenced by the U.S. ambassador taking a stroll in the streets without visible body armor) while the hinterlands resemble Mad Max.  It would seem that only a large amount of man power, both military and civilian, can bring normality to the country.