Meanwhile, back in Afghanistan . . . a top-notch account by Christina Lamb in the London Sunday Times of the “military and developmental anarchy” in that country:

“We need to realise that we could actually fail here,” warns Lieutenant-General David Richards, British commander of the Nato-led peacekeeping force. “Think of the psychological victory for Bin Laden and his ilk if we failed and the Taliban came back. Within months we’d suffer terror attacks in the UK. I think of my own daughters in London and the risk they would be in.”

Take a look. This is the sort of piece to which every foreign correspondent should aspire. Via Wolcott.