U.S. is at critical crossroads in Afghanistan

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.

MORE FROM AFGHANISTAN: FIVE YEARS LATER

Afghanistan: Five Years Later Section Front

NBC: U.S.’s ‘moment of truth’ in Afghanistan   Then: The 2001 war in Afghanistan   Now: Life in Afghanistan in 2006 Take our 10-question Afghanistan quiz Audio: Author on hearts, minds in terror war Analysis: A fake country, real problems Video: What has military learned since '01? NBC: In Afghanistan, only baby steps Newsweek: The Rise of Jihadistan Video: Afghanistan still struggling Afghanistan: Five Years Later Section Front   Add Afghanistan: Five Years Later headlines to your news reader: