Fear not friends, I have been closely watching the news coming from Marjah and Afghanistan in general, although I have not had the time to craft a detailed update. In the meantime, here are a few stories worthy of your attention.

• In today's NYT, Josh Foust has an op-ed about Marjah and the short-sightedness of the U.S. approach to governance. It's possibly the best piece I've seen explaining the importance of governance and why the U.S. isn't making the right choices.

• Gulliver at Ink Spots has a post in a similar vein, wondering why the biggest priority for training the ANSF is marksmanship.  Shouldn't it be more focused on rule of law and human rights? 

• Via Tom Ricks, a great interview with Ahmed Rashid in which he stresses that a complete defeat of the Taliban is impossible, and that the prudent course is to begin negotiations now to ensure a stable situation after the coalition withdrawal.

• Finally, I found this Alissa Rubin article in the NYT fascinating.  The fact that the government in Kabul sent a Vice President that doesn't speak Pashtun is astounding, and, I think, indicative of the token level of commitment we can expect from the Karzai regime moving forward.