Op-Ed - Choosing sides in Afghanistan - latimes

First, we don't have a good track record of picking Afghan candidates — after all, Karzai was our pick in 2001. Second, ham-handed attempts by then-Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl W. Eikenberry and the late special envoy Richard C. Holbrooke in 2009 to promote alternatives to Karzai backfired; Karzai still won and became harder than ever to deal with. - sides in Afghanistan
Staying alive for one last patrol in Afghanistan