A Stable Afghanistan

Ten years into the war, Afghanistan is still floundering. The Karzai administration that had seemed so promising in 2003 has fallen prey to domestic pressures and has moved towards reconciliation with the Taliban, inviting his “dear brothers” into the government. The Taliban, if integrated, would likely tighten their chokehold on a country they already control so much of. So who’s to blame? I would contend that Americans have played a role. It was when the United States began to sound very serious about leaving in 2014 that the Afghan government started to scramble for ways to bolster their faltering domestic security. Currently, the Afghan security forces’ don’t seem strong enough to beat back militia groups – maybe the deal they just struck with the Indian armed forces will fix that problem. Afghanistan is plagued by myriad problems, from opium fields, to a tense ethnically fragmented society, to a precarious approach to women’s rights, to a polarized government. Billions of dollars and many lives later, the world is watching – will Afghanistan be able to stand on its own two feet?