Arm the Afghans and get out

Re “Karzai set to win by default,” Nov. 2

Well, here we are, stuck with another failed leader while our brave young soldiers come home with broken bodies and addled brains.

We really ought to forget about President Hamid Karzai and go directly to the Afghan people: not to protect them, but to arm and train them and then promptly leave.

If they really want to enter the modern world, they will quickly dispatch the Taliban (and maybe Karzai’s corrupt government in the bargain). On the other hand, maybe they’d rather live in the 10th century, and the Taliban will be embraced.

In either case, let it be their decision, not ours.

Most Americans are sick and tired of seeing precious lives and resources lost to the vanities of a handful of misguided men in Washington.

Irwin Spector

Toluca Lake