Caroline Wadhams and Lawrence J. Korb, , Center for American Progress, November 2007.

ABSTRACT: "Six years after the United States led an invasion of Afghanistan to remove the Taliban from power and destroy Al Qaeda's safe haven, Afghanistan faces a growing insurgency that directly threatens its stability and the national security interests of the United States and its allies [...] Although the current administration has portrayed Iraq as the central front of the 'global war on terror,' Afghanistan and the borderlands of Pakistan remain the central battlefield. The United States must accomplish two central objectives in  Afghanistan:

• Deny sanctuary to Al Qaeda and its affiliates.
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• Build a stable, secure state that is not threatened by internal conflict and does not threaten its neighbors.

• In order to meet these two objectives, the United States must change its current approach. It must fully implement a counterinsurgency framework for all of Afghanistan. All elements of U.S. policy in Afghanistan, including development and reconstruction assistance, support for rule of law, counternarcotics strategy, and military operations should be coordinated within this framework."

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  Related posts:
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  'UNDSS Half-Year Review of the Security Situation in Afghanistan', 9 October 2007
  'Afghanistan: Narcotics and U.S. Policy', 1 October 2007