"They Are the Beginnings of a Nation": Major Fernando Lujan on How the War in Afghanistan Can Still be Won

Wise and encouraging words in today's NYT from a US Special Forces Major who believes that the Afghan people have the will to prevail against the Taliban even when many in the West have pronounced the conflict unwinnable.

Here's an excerpt: "... optimism in Afghanistan should not be mistaken for naïveté. We’ve paid a terrible price for the gains we’ve made, and Afghans know we’re leaving. Insurgents still control many areas and are certain to attempt a counteroffensive as foreign troops withdraw. My optimism is rooted instead in an intangible metric, gleaned from the thousand cups of tea we drank and the hundreds of patrols we walked: the Afghans have the will to win, with or without us."

Read the whole piece here.