On the precipice in Afghanistan

The United States military is now engaged in its largest operation against insurgents in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, involving the deployment of 2,000 of the 11,500 US-led troops in the country to violence-plagued sections of the east and south.

The offensive is codenamed Operation Avalanche, which carries with it the unfortunate connotation that the country is heading for a precipitous slide into complete chaos. And all the indicators point that way.

On Tuesday, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan presented his report on Afghanistan, and warned that international efforts to rebuild the country may fail unless the security situation improves. He called for better protection for UN and relief workers and another international meeting to boost financial and political support for Afghanistan. Another aid worker was killed this week, the second in a month.

Annan warned that the lack of security was hindering what he called the "critical political process" - an apparent reference to Afghanistan's meeting this week to adopt a new constitution. The grand council, or loya jirga, was to open meetings in Kabul on Wednesday. But it has been delayed until at least Saturday because delegates face delays in traveling to the capital.
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In Kandahar - the former spiritual capital of the Taliban - Zabul, Paktia and Paktika, the resistance is led by Taliban commanders. But despite having a very strong support base among the masses, the resistance is still at this stage a guerrilla movement. In Jalalabad, Kunar and Logar, where Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami is calling the shots, the resistance has more of a political, mass movement color as local warlords, tribal chiefs and ordinary citizens are more directly involved. As a result, resistance supply lines for arms, food and human resources have been been established in these regions.

Significantly, these areas are not far from Kabul.
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