I will definitely look out for Ion Pacepa's book.

Well, I can't write about everything in 5,000 words.

I hate it when the West makes common cause with fascists and communists. Once in a while I realize it's necessary, but it's distateful at best and frequently despicable.

Ion Pacepa--Ceausescu's advisor and Securitate officer who later defected--wrote an interesting book partly about how Ceausescu's sort-of alliance with the West was a fraud, and that the dictator couldn't believe Western leaders were dumb enough to believe he was sincere.

It should be required reading for diplomats.

It is true that Marxism-Leninism in general and Ceausescu's megalomania in particular wrecked Romania. But you omitted that the West, including the U.S., had close diplomatic ties with Ceausescu (one of the worst Communist leaders) because after 1968 he was anti-Moscow. (He did not help the Warsaw Pact crush the Prague Spring and he had a relationship with that alliance a bit like Charles de Gaulle's within NATO.)

I don't say this to launch a wave of bashing, only that the omission makes things appear simpler and more black and white than they were. It is a little bit of nuance that shows us one of the dilemmas of Western foreign policy in these years. (IE, is it good to support a particular bad small dictatorship, if it helps undermine a larger imperial dictatorship?)

About 800 of Romania's 1100 troops are in Zabul, Afghanistan. Zabul might be the most dangerous, pro Taliban, and Taliban controlled province in Afghanistan. Serving alongside them are 1,000 US troops and one section of Jordanian special forces.

In addition, the Romanians lead an ISAF PRT for Zabul (that use to have only 3 Americans in it, one being the famous Hoh.)

I would be curious to learn more about how the Romanians, Jordanians and US troops are helping train the ANA, ANP, and civilian GIRoA agencies in Zabul.

I would also be curious to learn about the full extent of collaboration between Jordan and Romania in Zabul (including through the Romanian lead ISAF PRT.) I would imagine it is extensive; and not something the Jordanians would like aired to the public.

MJT, do you have any ideas about how to e-mail questions to the head of Romanian forces in Afghanistan, or the head of the Romanian lead PRT for Zabul?

One of the only sources about the Zabul PRT, Zabul ISAF, Zabul ANSF, and Zabul government is Matthew Hoh. And he is suspect.

Here is one recent article about Zabul:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/08/AR2010030804916.html

I would caution you though that countries like Romania, Ukraine, Moldova lack of economic development pre-dates the communists. These were barely industrialsed agrarian states at the start of world war two with tiny middle classes.

These countries had never experienced democracy, nor practiced modern capitolism until the communists fell in 1989 and the early nineties. Pre world war two, conservative populist authoritariansim was by far the most popular political ideology, idealising the countryside, nationalism, the orhtodox church etc. These movements hindered capitolistic development in comparison to western Europe. Romania had its own right wing totalitarian terrorist movement(the Iron Guard. Hitler and Mussolini had real political support. In other words, when the communists came to power they didn't dismantle devolped democratcic, indutrialised countries so much as they built their own failed states. The tragedy is that since the fall of communism eastern bloc countries first have had to dismantle what the communists built, in order to start over.

They're also pleasant to be around personally, so effort to understand is not strictly necessary.