Winning in Afghanistan Is About Goats, Not Votes

Jones's warning has since come to look prescient. Over the weekend, American military commanders told Richard Holbrooke, the administration's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, that they don't have enough troops in Afghanistan to do their job. But with popular support for the war falling, the Obama administration will be hard-pressed to provide more troops—which makes Jones's comments about the importance of economic development all the more important.

So how well is the administration following his advice? The record is mixed.

Two weeks ago Holbrooke gave a presentation at the Center for American Progress in Washington. (You can watch it here.) Holbrooke brought with him most of his Afghanistan team, which includes experts on defense, development, law enforcement—and, crucially, agriculture, which forms the bulk of that country's economy.

Second, there's an argument that economic aid makes little sense without first establishing security. And the security situation may be getting worse. On Sunday, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the situation is Afghanistan is deteriorating. But if Jones is right, and economic development is the key to winning the war, then the administration can't afford to wait for an improvement in security that may never come.