Re: Just that people are expecting a US clone by now . . .
It took the US 100+ years to reach the level we now enjoy, and the primary materials with which to mold the nation were not synonymous with "barren wasteland".
The rural farmers of Afghanistan will continue to grow profitable crops (i.e., poppies vice corn), and I think the incoming entrepreneurs will be more inclined to look for the fast buck with drug-traffickers, as opposed to setting up a video rent-a-center in downtown Kabul.
Just me,
Dan