My post was basically an early draft of a diary on Daily Kos, which adds a little praise for Johnson ("a distinguished progressive historian").

That diary is significantly more polished but mainly worth a look-see because of the comments by vets74, who apparently has some first-hand knowledge of the mujahideen in Afghanistan, and even more remarkably, some first-hand understanding.

Some (hopefully) fair-use quotes:

Herring got one heeluva lot done.  

Bob Dole got more done, though.

Charlie's money was getting hijacked by the usual suspects in the criminal class that the Ivy League crew allowed to suck on to the CIA.

The proportions were astonishing. Steal $20. Pass through 50-cent.

So Dole got together a pot of $100-million and had the DC and Virginia wargamers put together a package of what the Afghans really wanted and needed.

Afghan input went to getting a shipload of little diesel Japanese pickup trucks. I'm sure they're still running... probably all of them that aren't blown up.

Anyway the Afghans approved the final package by a vote of 5 groups in favor, to 0 groups against, with 2 groups abstaining.

The smart thin Afghan doctor leading the talk side of the negotiations was pleased. That's as good as we'd have gotten for anything, ever.

None of this was EVER classified, because nobody in any official position ever got to look at it. Dole back-doored the money. Smart SOB.

BTW: the package included 120mm Spanish mortars. Rifled barrels. Knock the ** out of any helicopter repair facility from 10-clicks out.

That's what stopped the "Hind" helicopters, cuz they're in shop way more hours than they fly. The shop is a full-scale explosion waiting to happen. Nothing in there don't explode.

I put the last section in boldface for emphasis, because it was totally news to me... a simple insight into how a war against helicopters is fought, and once you hear it, it's almost self-evident.

Kudos for vets74!

Qui vit sans folie n'est pas si sage qu'il croit.