Coll: U.S. needs diplomacy to complement military in Afghanistan

(Falling off my chair)

Can't wait to see "diplomats" rolling around the Ring Road visiting with the village elders and having chai.

DIPLOMAT (to Terp): "We are here to help you stabilize towards a peaceful Afghanistan"
TERP (to VE): "The American wants to stabilize some place called Afghanistan"
VE (to Terp): "Tell the American that's good...don't know where Afghanistan is, but it should be stabilized."
DIPLOMAT (to Terp): "Tell him that we need his cooperation to overcome the Taliban"
TERP (to VE):"The American thinks you should cooperate with the Taliban"
VE (to Terp): "Yes, yes, we should...only the Taliban can stabilize this place they call Afghanistan"
TERP (to Diplomat): "The elder says he looks forward to stabilizing Afghanistan"
DIPLOMAT (to Terp): "Excellent, tell him that we have a shared end state in mind"
TERP (to VE): "The American says they have an end state in mind"
VE (to Terp): "Not good...tell them we need them here to stabilize this 'Afghanistan'; we're not powerful enough and our equipment is not the top quality"
TERP (to Diplomat): "The elder says they need the top quality equipment to stabilize Afghanistan"
DIPLOMAT(to Terp): "Tell him we are working on more funding for this equipment."
TERP(to VE): "The American says more money is coming"

The village elder smiles and pours another cup of chai.

RINSE>WASH>REPEAT