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"U.S. is at critical crossroads in Afghanistan Taliban resurgence and bumper opium crop offer new threats to stability By Jim Miklaszewski Chief Pentagon correspondent NBC News Updated: 2 hours, 16 minutes ago Jim Miklaszewski Chief Pentagon correspondent WASHINGTON — Nearly five years after the U.S. military drove the Taliban out of Afghanistan, total victory appears as distant and remote as the long-embattled nation itself. In fact, after several years of relative calm, the Taliban and al-Qaida have staged a dramatic comeback, adopting the insurgent tactics that have been perfected with deadly efficiency in Iraq. More than 70 suicide bombings have killed scores of Afghan civilians this year, a 400 percent jump over 2005. Roadside bombs have more than doubled. NATO military officials claim at least 40 percent of the attacks are launched from Taliban camps across the border in Pakistan, where both the Taliban and al-Qaida live, train and operate with apparent impunity. The Afghan government continues to struggle to establish its credibility and spread its authority beyond Kabul. At the same time the U.S. recently cut developmental aid to Afghanistan by 30 percent and less than half of the $15 billion promised in international aid has been delivered. Meanwhile, opium production in Afghanistan has exploded. A United Nations report in September revealed a bumper poppy crop produced 6,100 metric tons of opium, a 50 percent increase over the previous year. NATO's top commander, U.S. General James Jones, warns Afghanistan is at a critical crossroads, calling it "a moment of truth." Aggressive assault As a result, 40,000 U.S. and NATO combat forces are engaged in an aggressive campaign against the Taliban. Last month, Operation Medusa killed more than 400 Taliban fighters in four southern provinces. The Taliban disputed the casualty count but admitted their fighters were forced to make a "tactical retreat." Despite the success of the mission, U.S. military commanders were shocked by the intensity of the fight and the increased sophistication of Taliban command-and-control capabilities. More troubling, though, is the decision by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to end a military offensive against the Taliban and al-Qaida dug deep into the ungoverned tribal areas in western Pakistan. Musharraf denies that a treaty signed with tribal leaders to pull his troops out of the fight creates a safe haven for the Taliban and al-Qaida, but top U.S. military commanders have their doubts. "I'm very, very skeptical," said General John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East. "I'll believe it when I see it." Taliban resurgence Reports from inside Pakistan show Abizaid has good reason to be worried. Sources within Pakistan tell NBC News that the "Talibinization" of Waziristan province was well underway before the treaty was signed, creating the same kind of fundamentalist authoritarian state they had established while ruling Afghanistan. Robert Kempler of the International Crisis Group, an independent think tank that tries to prevent conflicts, says the Taliban are openly "attacking women who work for relief organizations, closing down cinemas, carrying out their own form of justice — and we don't see the Pakistani state stepping in to stop it." These developments have not been lost on the White House, so much so that President Bush decided to force the issue, summoning Musharraf and Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai to the White House last week in an effort to effect an agreement. In the end, however, there was no sign of a settlement. ‘Narco state’ General Jones, however, believes a much larger threat to the future of Afghanistan may be the opium trade, warning recently that Afghanistan is on the verge of becoming a "narco state." The impact of the drug trade has become so pervasive it reaches almost all levels of Afghan society, breeding corruption within the government and creating an entire class of Afghan farmers and laborers addicted to the money generated by the drug trade. In addition, part of the $3 billion dollars in annual drug profits is being used to finance, train and equip the Taliban in Afghanistan (an irony, since the Taliban government was quite effective until its overthrow in 2001 in curtailing the opium trade). Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has stubbornly resisted pressure to get the U.S. military directly involved in fighting Afghanistan's drug war. Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the lead commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, stressed that "the critical task at this stage is strengthening the government of Afghanistan, developing the economy, and helping to build Afghan civil society." In the meantime, soldiers on the ground are eagerly looking forward to Afghanistan's upcoming winter when, because of the harsh conditions, there's normally been a break in the violence. In Afghanistan, unfortunately, there is always next spring."

remember afghanistan? yeah, most people don't either.

but its still there, and the situation in the country doesn't appear to be getting any better.

taliban resurgence, rising insurgent tactics and violence, a struggling government, funding cuts, and a booming opium trade...

why didn't we "stay the course" in afghanistan, the place most people agree we actually SHOULD stay the course?

why didnt we make sure we got afghanistan right before we even THOUGHT about anything else in the region???

and if we can't get it right in afghanistan, why should we expect to get it right in iraq?

[Edited on October 4, 2006 at 12:38 PM. Reason : .]

10/4/2006 12:33:33 PM

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"why didn't we "stay the course" in afghanistan"

we did...we still have troops there

also the situation in the country does appear to be getting better...more children going to school...more roads and trade routes opened and in better shape...hell, women were allowed to vote in the last election, something they have NEVER been able to do

10/4/2006 12:52:08 PM

Although we did stay there, we didnt make it our primary target. How can
Bush claim to want to stop terrorism if he doesnt finish the job in Afghanistan?

10/4/2006 12:59:48 PM

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"if he doesnt finish the job in Afghanistan?"

we're still in Afghanistan...you must've blatanly overlooked that fact

10/4/2006 1:00:54 PM

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"also the situation in the country does appear to be getting better"

where have you been for the past year or so?

10/4/2006 1:01:16 PM

you must not be too familiar with how Afghanistan was before we went in there

10/4/2006 1:02:51 PM

yes..............i'm not disagreeing that it was bad and got better, but likewise you can dispute the fact that it is getting worse again.

10/4/2006 1:05:58 PM

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"we did...we still have troops there"

no.

we reduced troop numbers in afghanistan to invade iraq.

we let bin laden escape

and it appears we've let the taliban reemerge

10/4/2006 1:16:06 PM

no.

we still have troops there

and i dont think we intentionally let bin ladin escape

and i dont know how much the taliban has "reemerged"

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"Last month, Operation Medusa killed more than 400 Taliban fighters in four southern provinces"

[Edited on October 4, 2006 at 1:20 PM. Reason : .]

10/4/2006 1:17:57 PM

you conveniently put that "intentionally" in there

10/4/2006 1:20:08 PM

he conveniently implied we knowingly let him escape

but if you want to talk about people who let bin ladin escape...

10/4/2006 1:20:39 PM

if they're having to kill 400 fighters, i'd say they've reemerged

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"but if you want to talk about people who let bin ladin escape..."

you'd love to shift the focus of this thread, i know, its what you do. but lets stay on the topic at hand

[Edited on October 4, 2006 at 1:25 PM. Reason : .]

10/4/2006 1:23:00 PM

^^then what? talk about the guy who thinks defeating an enemy who isn't attacking us is more important than defeating an enemy who has attacked us many times and is still threatening us. . .

[Edited on October 4, 2006 at 1:25 PM. Reason : .]

10/4/2006 1:25:18 PM

we're still fighting in both afghanistan and iraq guys, since you completely ignore that we STILL HAVE TROOPS in afghanistan

but if you want to shift focus again to "bush is bad, iraq war is unjust!111" then i'm sure you will

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"why didnt we make sure we got afghanistan right before we even THOUGHT about anything else in the region??? "

if we had done that, all the terrorists/insurgents would've come to afghanistan instead of iraq...same things would've happened...this isnt a convential war

[Edited on October 4, 2006 at 1:28 PM. Reason : .]

10/4/2006 1:26:36 PM

no i think afghanistan is important. more important than where most of our resources are going.

10/4/2006 1:28:25 PM

no one is ignoring that we have troops in afghanistan. not sure where you're getting that.

my contention is, by the president's own definition, we haven't "stayed the course" in afghanistan.

we pulled troops out before the job was complete, and now afghanistan seems to once again be going back down a familiar road

[Edited on October 4, 2006 at 1:29 PM. Reason : .]

10/4/2006 1:28:45 PM

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"we pulled troops out before the job was complete"

so you agree we cant pull troops out of Iraq until the job is complete

10/4/2006 1:29:33 PM

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"we're still fighting in both afghanistan and iraq guys,"

multi fronted wars never work......especially with incompetent leadership.......can anyone say quagmire?

10/4/2006 1:30:29 PM

^^we aren't talking about iraq. not sure why you keep bringing it up. please stay on topic

[Edited on October 4, 2006 at 1:31 PM. Reason : ,]

10/4/2006 1:31:02 PM

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"so you agree we cant pull troops out of Iraq until the job is complete "

so wait, that 100 ft. plus VICTORY banner on the aircraft carrier a few years ago was mistakenly put there the same day the president gave a VICTORY speech? Face it, they have a history of jumping in front of themselves, making terrible tactical and policy decisions, and then trying to talk it all away.

[Edited on October 4, 2006 at 1:35 PM. Reason : .]

10/4/2006 1:33:29 PM

Afghanistan is getting worse and worse.

Karzai was only in control of Kabul, and now even that is becoming worse.

Suicide bombings and attacks have increased several fold in the past several months, except for in Kabul.

But now, even Kabul is falling vicitim to massive suicide bombings.

10/6/2006 11:50:09 AM

keep 'em distracted

10/6/2006 12:00:57 PM