Critical reports on Afstan

Just so readers can get a full perspective:

1) Iraq seen as more stable than Afghanistan: report

2) West's botched funding risks fuelling insurgency, report finds

3) 40% of aid to Afghanistan goes to consultants: report
Pledges fall short amid staggering inefficiency, waste

Reasons why the new UN "super envoy", Kai Eide, needs to do a bang-up job. John Manley makes points along the above lines in a Globe and Mail piece:

...
We need a new and different approach to our mission in Afghanistan. In particular, there must be greater emphasis on diplomacy, reconstruction, development and building Afghan institutions of governance.

To get the needed results, we recommended that the Prime Minister personally lead a diplomatic initiative, making Canada's voice heard to a degree commensurate with our sacrifice. The objective would be not simply additional troops in Kandahar, but a comprehensive political-military plan for NATO, the UN and participating countries. Six years after the collapse of the Taliban government, we were shocked to find so little co-ordination and commonality among key participants in Afghanistan...

Somehow I don't see Mr Harper taking on that onerous and politically-risky initiative, especially given Canada's still quite limited diplomatic clout--and our unstable Parliamentary situation.