Across Afghanistan suicide attacks are on the rise and in much of the country U.S.-allied forces confront a revived Taliban. A surprising exception is the eastern province of Khost, a hotbed of insurgent activity and al-Qaida ties since before 9-11 but today an unlikely oasis of hope in a troubled land.
Afghanistan: The Road Ahead
Published October 15, 2007
Afghanistan is often called the forgotten war, but it shouldn't be.
We've just spent the month looking at Khost province and looking at the security and reconstruction effort through the eyes of the Americans and Afghans.
Khost is strategic province. It is a political and military hub and has one of the longest borders with Pakistan. It was also a haven for al Qaeda and where Mohamed Atta and several of the other hijackers trained.
Arguably, Khost is where Sept. 11 started and it is also here that the Americans and Afghans are making progress.
Reconstruction aid is flying in, security has drastically improved and for the most part Khostis are happy. They are also busy building multi-story buildings in town and barracks on Forward Operating Base Salerno.
Afghanistan can be won; it is just going to take a lot more work and resources.
Forget opium right now. Too many policy makers are trying to solve an economic problem (poppies are Afghanistan's only cash crop) with a moral solution (drugs are bad and should be destroyed). The only solution may be to subsidies the crops, but there are bigger issues first.
Like roads.
To continue reading Kevin Maurer and Andrew Craft's blog, click here.
On one of my last days in Khost in 2007, I remember the 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers guarding Forward Operating Base Salerno's main gate were shocked that we'd go into the city without guns
In March 2008, The Pulitzer Center partnered with Helium to launch its first round of the Global Issues/Citizen Voices Contest. Find the winning essays here.
Grantee
Kevin Maurer has covered the military as an embedded journalist for The Fayetteville Observer for four years.
In 2003, he followed 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers in Iraq during the...
