<I said a couple of weeks ago that it was going to take our blood on the ground to get any respect out of the Afghans. They are convinced we are cowards and we must win a battle on the ground to win that respect. When we have spilled our blood and been victorious it will quiet a lot of the criticism for air strikes and the defections will begin.

I haven't noticed any cases where our blood on the ground has gotten us respect from anyone else in the past few decades. Why should the Afghans be any different?

These people are always going to find a reason to hate us. Not because we are evil, but because we are not. What Ayn Rand used to call "hatred of the good for being the good," or what others have simply defined as nihilism.

When our blood is spilled on the ground, the only thing the Afghans will do is spit in it. We need to keep on doing the military job that needs doing, without worrying about our popularity.