COMMENTARY: "Which Way in Afghanistan? Ask Colombia: Lessons learned in suppressing the guerrillas could be applied to defeating the Taliban," by Scott Wilson, Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 13-19 April 2009.

Wilson, the author, has covered both Iraq and Colombia, having lived in the latter from 2000 to 2004. He believes Colombia offers a lot more lessons for future operations in Afghanistan than our experiences in Iraq. The big similarities: insurgents distant from capital, the terrain, the drug connection, the sanctuary offered by neighboring states, and the weak central government. Key lessons suggested: 1. surging U.S. troops is less useful than surging trainers for the local military (how Nagle-ish) 2. we should focus on government capacity building more than reducing poppy production 3. efforts to seal borders don't work and divert personnel better used elsewhere 4. this will take years to fix. Uribe, the Colombian president, reduced the insurgency pool best by luring the less faithful away with cash and job training. Another key thing he did was end the paramilitaries and their negative impact. In short, Uribe built a state using U.S. money, sometimes ruthlessly and sometimes with great grace. But how he expanded the state's purview was key: he offered the insurgents a better life.