Via Andrew, Andrew Exum complains that Glenn Greenwald cherry picks which experts on the ground to listen to about the conditions in Afghanistan. Fair enough. But this is actually an argument against foreign occupation by democratic countries. As I have argued for some time, it is impossible for the members of a democratic polity to have even a rudimentary understanding of the realities on the ground in foreign countries. Exum is correct to say that we can’t know which experts to trust– which means that, perhaps, we shouldn’t put ourselves in this position in the first place. It asks too much of democracy to include the reality of foreign politics and foreign problem within the responsibility of a culturally, geographically and politically separate people.
not knowing which expert is correct is indicative of the problem
Freddie deBoer used to blog at lhote.blogspot.com, and may again someday. Now he blogs here.
Burt Likko 
Will Truman 
Teacher 
Mary 
James K 
Jaybird 
Borat: “I do a picture, only small, of the Tishnik Masacre. Where many Uzbeks…crushed!”
Kindly Gray Hippie: “How did you feel when you drew this?”
Borat: “Very proud!”.
KGH: “I’m just listening with sadness…a little sadness for your people…?”
Borat: “Yes…no, it is not sad. It is us who do the kill!”
When in doubt,
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Yup. This explains why pro-war hawks who like to cite Hayek on domestic issues are the most incoherent and inconsistent bunch around.
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