A Dangerous Backslide
Age-old problems-and a new Taliban surge-are dragging the Afghans down
Porous border. In the months to come, military officials will be closely monitoring the results of a peace agreement that the Pakistani government made with tribal leaders in the mountainous region of northwest Pakistan called Waziristan, an area about half the size of New Jersey. Throughout Afghanistan's south and east, incursions of insurgents along the border with Pakistan remain a constant concern. By most estimates, the agreement has provided the Taliban with a secure rear for fighting from Pakistan-with the support of Pakistan's Pashtun tribes. The failure of the agreement thus far to stop insurgent incursions across the border has done little to decrease tensions between Karzai and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
And while Karzai struggles to retain his legitimacy among an increasingly disillusioned populace, there are signs that even in the capital city of Kabul, Afghans continue to hedge their bets and nurture considerable resentment. In Kabul, 4 million to 5 million people live without water or sewage. More women in the capital's streets have returned to wearing burkas amid a reversion to stricter Islamic customs.
Such poverty and fear among Afghans remain a stark reminder that there is another enemy that challenges coalition forces. "That enemy," says Combined Security Transition commander Maj. Gen. Robert Durbin, "is time."
With Thomas Omestad in Washington
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