Thursday, March 28, 2013

Is Peace Possible In Afghanistan?

U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Ysa Rubio prepares M112 demolition charges for an operation in Helmand province, Afghanistan, March 17, 2013. Rubio is an explosive ordnance disposal team leader assigned to the1st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, Combat Logistics Regiment 2. The Marines disposed of unserviceable ammunition, unexploded ordnance and other military items. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Anthony L. Ortiz

Afghanistan After The War Is Peace Possible? -- Ahmed Rashid, New Republic

Will Afghanistan, which has been at war since 1978—thirty-four years, or a period longer than the two world wars and the intervening years combined—finally see a minimal kind of peace before American forces leave next year? Can the United States focus enough diplomatic energy to help generate a cease-fire and a political deal between Kabul, Islamabad, and the Taliban? Can America and its allies satisfy the wider region that includes Iran, Central Asia, India, China, and Russia, so that they do not start undermining Afghanistan’s still uncertain future?

For many months now the American media has been obsessed with the timetable for a drawdown of some 100,000 American and NATO troops, and with whether the 350,000-strong Afghan army and police can hold the line on their own against the Taliban, and with how many troops the United States will leave behind after 2014 to train Afghan forces and run its counter-terrorism campaign.

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My Comment: All wars do come to an end one day .... but for Afghanistan .... they will probably have to wait a bit longer.

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