If the report is true this doesn't bode well for us. Perception is reality and if the people see us as failing and the government as incompetent and corrupt then we either change things or we run the risk of defeat.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080905/ap_on_re_as/angry_afghans_4;_ylt=At57YOm4gnbukDrAugtoBiTOVooA
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080905/ap_on_re_as/angry_afghans_4;_ylt=At57YOm4gnbukDrAugtoBiTOVooA
A strong sense of frustration echoed through dozens of interviews by The Associated Press with Afghan villagers, police, government officials, tribal elders and Taliban who left and rejoined the religious movement. The interviews ranged from the capital, Kabul, to the rural regions near the border with Pakistan.
The overwhelming result: Ordinary Afghans are deeply bitter about American and NATO forces because of errant bombs, heavy-handed searches and seizures and a sense that the foreigners do not understand their culture. They are equally fed up with what they see as seven years of corruption and incompetence in a U.S.-backed government that has largely failed to deliver on development.