Half-assed -link-

Success stories of Afghanistan, from a .mil address (dare I?):

The 3rd Brigade Support Troops Battalion?s Civil Affairs Team in coordination with the Gardez Provincial Reconstruction Team delivered more than 1,200 pounds of concrete to a remote mountain village in Paktya Province.

and the photo caption:

Villagers unload 100-pound bags of cement provided by 3d Brigade Support Troops Battalion?s Civil Affairs Team in Azghana, Afghanistan. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. Pete Casiano

and, the finish:

This is the second load of cement the soldiers have provided to Azghana. They have now delivered more than 3,000 pounds of cement to help the villagers build their canal.

in closing, the math.

(3,000 lbs of concrete)/ (100 lbs/bag) = 30 bags of concrete.

I mean, why stop at a canal? they could pull off a major dam with 30 whole bags of concrete. They might even lay a couple dozen feet of canal.

I'm not saying some of the other stories listed with this one aren't impressive, and a net good, but 30 bags of concrete is worth 7 paragraphs and a photo?

If this is even close to being one of the 100 best things we've done in Afghanistan, then it's about 4 years on and we have already lost the entire war.