Clearly, the Afghan crisis, rooted in the original Soviet occupation of the country, steeped in tribalism and Islamic fundamentalism, based in the rats nest of the September 11th terrorist attacks on America, and most recently seen in a Taliban revival, remain part of a festering security threat. That should not mean however Washington widening a carte blanche security deployment where larger numbers of troops are sent to Afghanistan.

Now, despite the significant social and security improvements in Iraq, American Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama speaks of precipitously pulling U.S. forces out of Iraq, and sending them, not back to the U.S., but to Afghanistan! While certain tactical deployments may be in order, the real issue in Afghanistan remains building a strong Afghan army, a functional local police force, and an effective national government. The footprint of larger foreign forces, American or NATO, on Afghan soil may not be the answer, but the excuse for the Afghans to keep on fighting.

John J. Metzler is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He can be reached at jjmcolumn@att.net

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