Afghanistan: Dare We Ignore?

We are about to compound our errors in Iraq by ignoring the importance of what we never finished in Afghanistan. We simply cannot let that country revert to its horrible past. Here is a place where a bit more attention and resources should assure a fairer outcome and, maybe, a safer world. Part of that attention should be aimed at convincing (forcing?) Afghan and Pakinstani leaders and institutions to cooperate towards an end that would untimately serve both nations well.

Afghanistan war nears 'tipping point'

Government support is flagging, NATO is split on strategy, and Taliban fighters are revitalized.

By Laura King and David Holley
LA Times Staff Writers

December 9, 2006

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — The conflict in Afghanistan has entered a dangerous phase, and the next three to six months could prove crucial in determining whether the United States and its NATO partners can suppress a revitalized enemy — or will be dragged into another drawn-out and costly fight with an Islamic insurgency, according to senior military and security officials and diplomats.

"I think we are approaching a tipping point, perhaps early in the new year," said a Western diplomat in the region, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the situation publicly.

Popular support for the central government is faltering, and Western military allies are deeply divided over how best to combat the insurgency.

On the other side of the fight, the Taliban has regained the strength to dominate large swaths of Afghanistan; government control is tenuous at best in at least 20% of the country, according to several Western diplomats and Afghan officials.

Militants have built a network of bases in the tribal hinterlands that straddle the frontier with Pakistan. Over the last year, a growing number of mobile encampments on the Afghan side of the border have given the insurgents greater self-sufficiency, military officials say, although the guerrillas still draw heavily on logistical support and weaponry funneled from the Pakistani side....

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