Dear readers, to see progress we need do no more than compare dark rule under the Taliban with the elected government and freedom Afghans now enjoy. Has not Afghanistan’s future improved dramatically now that its land, its blood and its people are free from Taliban rule? Afghanistan, long suppressed under the brutal Taliban regime, is now showing prosperity where none existed under the Taliban, because the hard work of Afghan, US and NATO forces is leading the nation towards self determination. A nation once crumbling under the Taliban dictatorship now allows its citizens a better quality of life. Are there not more economic and educational opportunities than there were under the Taliban? Is not the Afghan National Army receiving, under the guidance of US and NATO forces, the proper training to independently protect the nation? Does not this training ensure that the tempo and mode of Taliban atrocities will decline until 2014 when the Afghan Security Forces are able to defeat the Taliban by themselves?
Today, by contrast, the US and international community invests in every aspect of Afghan life to provide the humanitarian aid, development assistance, civil infrastructure, security and stability that allows the people of Afghanistan to restore, reform and rebuild what was destroyed under the Taliban regime. Does not, dear readers, the drawdown of our troops indicate that Afghanistan continues its progression toward successful security transition? Does not, dear readers, our successful phased drawdown from Iraq provide an example of what the future holds for a free Afghanistan ready and able to defend itself?
CDR Speaks,
DET, United States Central Command
U.S. Central Command