A Walk Through The Minefield Of Politics and War

For the past thirty years, Afghanistan has suffered an almost continuous civil war. Russia invaded in 1978, followed by a CIA involvement that built a Kalashnikov and drug culture of warlords. A quarter of the population fled and one million persons died. The Taliban emerged as a direct result of the cold war and of Afghanistan's appalling living conditions at the time. The current generation has no education and has known only exile and armed conflict.
Afghanistan represents a dilemma which has created refugees, hunger, humiliation, radicalization, new concentrated wealth, drug addiction, warlord politics, and a descent into utter chaos. The US currently
has 32,000 troops in Afghanistan and President Obama has committed another 21,000 as well as a promise to increase the Afghan military and police force in order to give credibility to and security for the August 20 national elections. Wide spread corruption and war lord membership in the national government remains a dilemma.