BENCHMARK SYSTEM
FOR AFGHANISTAN

In 2001, following the 9/11 attacks on the United States, al-Qaeda and the Taliban were driven out of Kabul and into Pakistan.
At that time, as part of our effort to eliminate the religious fanatics and to gain the support of the Afghani people, we promised that we would remain for as long as it took to establish a government of freedom with Afghani sovereignty.
This is the same promise we made to the Afghanis when we wanted them to accept our aid in fighting the Soviet Union occupation in the 1970s.
Our promises in the Middle East and Islamic areas have mostly resulted in broken promises. It is therefore no wonder that we have so little credibility in matters involving Islam.
The following plan is proposed:
We establish a set of benchmarks that the Afghani government would have to meet, such as:
1. Poppy production will decrease 10% per year.
2. Draft and train a new Afghani Army division (10-12,000 men) every month. Military pay is to be guaranteed to all troops.
3. Corruption is to end immediately. Anyone taking a bribe or getting paid for services or materiel not delivered will be drafted into the Army. This will include those taking kickbacks from the first-line bribetakers.
4. Warlordism will cease immediately. Any leader not following the Rule of Law will be imprisoned or executed, depending on the severity of the violation.

Karzai and the warlords will reluctantly agree to the benchmarks and then do everything to ignore the agreements.
Upon enforcement by U.S. and allied troops of the benchmark agreements, Karzai and the warlords will demand that U.S. and allied troops pull back to support roles. In the extreme, they will demand that we leave within two years.
The U.S. will continue to train troops at an accelerated rate. Offensive actions will mainly be by drone or other indirect means.
The Karzai government will continue to negotiate with moderate Taliban and tribal leaders. Once Karzai et al. feel secure in their respective areas, they will either ask us to leave or interfere so much that we will leave on our own.
Afghanistan will partition itself according to ‘alliances of the moment.’