Falling Short in Afghanistan

To read Amit Pandya's entire report, Security, Reconstruction and Political Normalization in Afghanistan – Falling Short, click here.

This week, Afghanistan’s constitutional loya jirga (national assembly) agreed to a new draft constitution, following three weeks of extremely contentious deliberations. President Bush welcomed the news, saying that this “lays the foundation for democratic institutions” and will “help ensure that terror finds no further refuge in that proud land.” The assessment of the special representative of the United Nations Secretary General was more guarded. Lakhdar Brahimi feared that the elections to be held this year under the new constitution would be pointless without more security throughout Afghanistan.

Two years after the U.S. military intervention, the situation in Afghanistan is by all accounts unpromising. The efforts of U.S. armed forces, the Afghan government and the international community to secure Afghanistan from the Taliban and al Qaeda are producing mixed results. More...