Is Afghanistan on the brink of failure? Not necessarily, though the challenges in Afghanistan do remain formidable, says Brookings expert Jeremy Shapiro, who recently returned from Afghanistan and saw optimism among U.S. and NATO ground forces there.
That optimism is reminiscent of attitudes in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, but Shapiro draws important distinctions between the situations in Afghanistan and Iraq. “Increasing violence is an expression of the desperation of insurgents,” says Shapiro, as Afghans today are seeing the increasing capacity of their government and security services and are increasingly rejecting the insurgency.
Managing Homeland Security », by Jeremy Shapiro
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Commentary
Optimism in Afghanistan
April 2, 2008