Just some facts regarding Afghanistan from an Economist article: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * There are in fact 40,000 NATO troops in the country, the highest number since 2001, and plans to reduce American forces have been postponed.
* American spending in the country has dropped this year, and few European NATO countries are eager to fight in the dangerous south of the country. * So far this year some 3,700 people have been killed, and the rate of insurgent attacks has sharply increased. * The government is, at best, a decade from being able to stand on its own feet. * The economy, which nonetheless ticks over at 8% a year. * Petty corruption is worsening too: it is increasingly common to be stopped by officials who ask for money in the streets of Kabul. * Opium remains the only significant export; the narco-economy is now worth over $3 billion a year, about half the total GDP. Poppy cultivation grew by 60% from last year to this and production is up by about half (see chart). * The judiciary hardly functions and local warlords still dominate in many areas. * In Kabul many remember the years of the Communist strongman President Najibullah with open nostalgia. * Analysts discuss the risk of successes of the past five years now draining away. Summary: The prospects for long-term recovery depend, ultimately, on getting stability and flattening the Taliban. NATO commanders admit that they would like more troops to do that, but Western public opinion may not tolerate a long and bloody campaign. The Taliban, by contrast, appear happy to plan for the long term. As one Taliban commander recently boasted: "You have the clocks but we have the time." http://economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8159467&top_story=1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Introducing the Fusion Authority Quarterly Update. 80 pages of hard-hitting, up-to-date ColdFusion information by your peers, delivered to your door four times a year. http://www.fusionauthority.com/quarterly Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:220523 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
