I couldn't help thinking of TomDispatch articles on Afghanistan while listening to Charles Bowden on Democracy Now! talk of the Ciudad Juarez killings.

...the President of Mexico has said repeatedly that there’s no part of Mexico he doesn’t control. We have proof positive of his claim today. He’s arriving in Juárez for a visit. When he arrives is a secret. Where he goes is a secret. Who he sees is now a secret. That’s how much control he has over his own country

I bet a search could draw more Afghanistan parallels with the elections too..

In addition, our nation-building "partner," the hopeless Afghan President Hamid Karzai -- known in better times as "the mayor of Kabul" for his government's lack of reach -- was the "winner" in an election in which, it seemed, more ballot boxes were stuffed than voters arrived at the polls.

You can't help but thin, of Eduardo Galeano mentioning the reason there has never been a coup in the United States may be because there is not and American Embassy there..

Predictably, public opinion has been turning steadily against the largely powerless central government, guarded in the capital by foreign forces. The insecurity endured by most Afghans -- the absence of peace -- is enough to make them give up hope in President Karzai, often jeeringly referred to as the "mayor of Kabul" or "assistant to the American Ambassador."

I thought there was another TomDispatch article comparing the military's grudging respect for the Taliban and contempt for allies to the same dynamic in Vietnam. Chomsky and Herman's The Washington Connection, Political Economy of Human Rights Volume 1 explains the pattern of 'denationalization' and lack of motivation - way back in 1979. A google site has some impressive blurbs for this South End Press classic.

It relentlessly dissects the official views of Establishment scholars and their journals. The "best and brightest" pundits of the status quo emerge from this book thoroughly denuded of their credibility. The Washington Connection, by virtue of the importance of the subject and the excellence of the book, is obligatory reading for any American seeking to comprehend the role of the United States in world since 1946."
-Gabriel Kolko

"This devastating critique of U.S. foreign policy confirms the worst about the U.S. role in the Third World. It is of decisive importance in building the foundations for a humane politics, and should be read and studied as widely as possible."
-Richard Falk

"The Washington Connection and Third World Fascismargues with devastating logic and overwhelming documentation that the purpose of U.S. global policy is to make the world safe for exploitation by U.S. corporate interests and that this has required and continues to require the installation and support of brutal military/police dictatorships throughout the Third World. It also requires an apologetic ideology which portrays all this as being in the highest interests of democracy and human rights."
-Paul Sweezy