"If you can't beat 'em, bribe 'em" seems to be modus operandi of our strategy in Afghanistan and Iraq. It was applied first with partial success using the so-called Sunni Awakening by Mr. Bush and now is being applied by Obama to Afghanistan...   From here: The leaders of one of the largest Pashtun tribes in a Taliban stronghold said Wednesday that they had agreed to support the American-backed government... In exchange for their support, American commanders agreed to channel $1 million in development projects directly to the tribal leaders and bypass the local Afghan government.
Now I know where some of our tax dollars go and why Obama did not include cutting defense in his so-called three year freeze on budget.