I was talking with a group of infantry guys that had literally just gotten back from Afghanistan. One of the more lovely details of Afghan behavior they mentioned was that pedophilia is apparently endemic. Men rape boys often, and not even their own kids.
As I look at this, several things seem clear. First, Afghanistan has no weapons of mass destruction, and no ready means of getting them. Second, no attacks have originated out of there in ten years, other than of course local terror attacks on Afghanis themselves. Third, if we left completely, it is unclear to me that any serious national security threat would emerge.
While I do not think leaving completely would be prudent, I will say again that I think we should bring 2/3rds of our men back. This was the plain sentiment of these guys. The Taliban deserved to get hit for what they did in facilitating the attacks by Bin Laden’s team (who must have had help from an as-yet unidentified entity, as I have argued often). But it is not our job to civilize a nation that in large measure remains very primitive and rooted in ancient customs.