I heard it once said that Hitchens' writings would still be read a century from now. Having read only a smattering of essays and the vastly over-rated "god Is not Great", I do not feel qualified either to support or refute this grandiose claim.

Nevertheless, if it is truly the case that he will be regarded as relevant a century from now, it sure as shit won't be on the basis of articles like the one posted this week. I don't feel motivated enough to pick apart such a poorly argued screed about the problems facing Afghanistan - problems made even more daunting, I might add, with the senseless slaughter of five British soldiers recently - on a point by point basis. It suffices to point out that his focus of condemnation proves only too clearly how disingenuous and politicized his writings truly are.

Here's what any level-headed person should ask themselves after reading the article:

• Does it really matter whether or not the elections were "fair" when a sizeable part of the country is under Taliban control? Moreover, even if the non-Taliban controlled areas did have fair elections, does it still not speak to the insurmountable disunity of the country itself

• Even if the current, despotic Karzai regime somehow mustered enough integrity to carry out fair elections, would this change its fundamentally corrupt nature in any way?

• Finally, would a fair transfer of power - an extreme unliklihood, to be sure - under the aegis of fair elections be transformative given the sever institutional limitations of the state apparatus itself.
  

I mean seriously folks, rigged elections occur in relatively cohesive countries like Russia and Bulgaria, nations that have long histories and strong national identities. Their ultimate existence and stability is not shaped by how fairly ballots are counted. Afghanistan, on the other hand, is the epitome of the failed state. Therefore, decrying the UN's inability to monitor perfunctory elections while, at the same time, ignoring the obvious fact that the country itself doesn't exist in any meaningful way, is kind of stupid. Elections won't change the geo-political blackhole that is currently sucking both money and lives.