Is There Hope In Afghanistan?

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael Nelson provides security during a mission to Farah Midwife School in Farah City in Afghanistan's Farah province, May 26, 2012. Nelson is assigned to Provincial Reconstruction Team Farah, which includes Alaska's National Guard infantrymen, who are responsible for ensuring the safety of the entire team. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Benjamin Addison

Rays Of Hope In Afghanistan -- Michael O'Hanlon, Washington Times

Progress portends stability by 2014 pullout.

The war in Afghanistan is a slog at best. Even those of us supporting the mission there must acknowledge that it has been slower, harder going than expected. With Osama bin Laden dead and other al Qaeda leaders also out of the picture (or out of the region) the original motivation for the effort seems less compelling to many as well.

But the United States should not lose patience. Because we already have an exit strategy to remove most NATO troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, no one need worry too much about a possible quagmire. Beyond that, there are good reasons to think that even if this mission does not achieve its loftiest earlier goals, it likely can attain the minimal acceptable requirement: preventing a Taliban return to power and a major al Qaeda presence on Afghan soil.

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My Comment: I would love to believe in Michael O'Hanlon's optimism .... that Afghanistan will find it's way. But I need to remind everyone that Soviet reporters and commentators were saying the same thing when their forces left Afghanistan in 1988 .... and then the whole place went to hell a few years later.