July 30, 2008 1:07PM 

# Building Afghanistan 

By [Benjamin H. Friedman](https://www.cato.org/people/benjamin-friedman) 

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Building a state in Afghanistan is the job of the Afghans. The United States can help, especially with infrastructure projects and military training, but our principle objective there should not be counter-insurgency, but counter-terrorism. That mission requires no surge in American or NATO forces.

Don’t [take](http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0403/p09s01-coop.html) it from me, [take it from Rory Stewart](http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1823753,00.html), the crazy Scotsman and former employee of the British Foreign Office, who walked across Afghanistan in 2002 with a dog, lived to write a [great book](http://www.amazon.com/Places-Between-Rory-Stewart/dp/0156031566) about it, and now lives in Kabul.

Stewart’s article is latest in an [outbreak](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f031f936-56a0-11dd-8686-000077b07658.html) [of](http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/story/619363.html) [Afghanistan](http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/Article.aspx?id=2483) [surge](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/opinion/30friedman.html?ref=opinion) [skepticism](http://www.williampfaff.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=330).

##### Related Tags 

[Defense and Foreign Policy](https://www.cato.org/defense-foreign-policy), [Afghanistan](https://www.cato.org/afghanistan) 

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