Thank You, Mr. Ajami

In a world where the mealy-mouthed on both the left and right are given far too much credence, it is a both a relief and a great pleasure to hear from Fouad Ajami, who refuses to romanticize Afghanistan and who isn't afraid to say what's what re Hamid Kazai's double game:

The brutal facts about Afghanistan are these: It is a broken country, a land of banditry, of a war of all against all, and of the need to get what can be gotten from the strangers. There is no love for the infidels who have come into the land, and no patience for their sermons.

Also, it has a Constitution grounded in sharia law, which, when you think about it, makes Afghanistan's friendship with an ascendant Iran, another land that adheres to sharia, seem perfectly understandable; certainly, it makes makes a lot more sense than infidels fighting and dying for what is essentially a sharia state.