Afghanistan, Bananastan, BOHICAstan

Republished here with follow-up Q & A

The following email dialogue is hot off the presses. I'm conversing here with a couple of physicists, a notable journalist, a futurist, and three experienced government officials and/or agents / field operatives. All but one or two of my interlocutors are directly or indirectly connected with the US intelligence community, and several are both knowledgeable and influential.