Rethinking Afghanistan October 15, 2009March 16, 2017 PRGX In July, Aristides’s Chris Brown suggested that PRGX might double. Now that it more than has, he writes: “I’ve sold most of our PRGX. The move from $3.10 to $6.66 was justified, and I don’t hate the stock here at 10 times forward earnings, but the shares have gone from very very undervalued to just somewhat undervalued, and that is a good reason to take some profits.” You want another reason to take some profits? On anything? Dow 10,000. Yes, I know “a bull market climbs a wall of worry,” so maybe my worries bode well. But I’d be very cautious here, my occasional nutty speculative suggestions notwithstanding. RETHINK AFGHANISTAN “Greenwald and his team ask Afghans themselves if American troops are making them safer. The answers are no, no, no, a thousand times no,” writes Gail Sheehy in her review of “Rethink Afghanistan.” I’ve not yet watched it, but I am reassured that the President and his team are so carefully and deliberately rethinking Afghanistan, whatever they conclude. BOGO AFGHANISTAN The film’s basic pitch: “Congress should begin debate on civilian alternatives to a failed military-based approach to bringing peace and security to the region.” With that in mind . . . Remember the guy I wrote about last week? The irrepressible Mark Bent, whose solar-powered “BoGo Lights” have a special significance for the millions of families around the world with no electricity? (“Their Lives Stop When The Sun Sets. Imagine! For $10, you can give a family several hours of light each night for a child to study by.”) Well, now Mark has another idea. Ninety percent of Afghans have no electricity and the Number One thing they want, he says, is light at night. What if our troops could clip half a dozen of Bogo Lights to their belts each morning and hand them, personally, to families that need them. On one side is the solar panel. On the other, in Afghan, could be a message: “Please help us leave your country and get home to our families. We miss them terribly. But we can’t leave until you are more safe. In the meantime, and long after were gone, we hope this gift from the American people helps light up your life.” With 50,000 troops handing out half a dozen lights each day it would take just weeks to touch the hearts and minds of millions. And maybe even demonstrate the potential of modern technology, versus the appeal of Seventh Century fundamentalism. At less than $10 in such quantity, we could cover the whole country for $50 million. Nothing, in the scheme of things. AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT Finally, there’s this thoughtful analysis presented as an open letter to the President. We learn about the Afghans, the Pakistanis, the Kashmiris, the Pashtuns . . . and the the Afghan code of Pashtunwali that keeps Bin Laden alive (but under which, even so, he could be rendered harmless). If you want an overview of what’s really going on, take 5 minutes to read it. “We are courting long-term strategic defeat,” Polk writes. But he offers solutions.