In Afghanistan, endemic violence continues to demonstrate how the American mission has faltered in achieving its objectives there. Across the border in Pakistan, violence is also claiming lives. At the same time, though, the Pakistani government is tentatively pursuing new approaches to dealing with militants.
The world was shocked to learn of a Taliban attack on a military parade in Kabul attended by President Hamid Karzai. Karzai was unhurt, but two citizens were killed and eleven others wounded. The Taliban claimed that they were not trying to kill Karzai, but merely "wanted to show how easily they could get access to such events." Whether or not this statement represents their real intentions (I suspect it was a failed assassination attempt), the ease with which they got close enough to kill has revealed the weakness of the government's security forces.
The attack also reveals divides in how Afghanistan's historical legacy is remembered. It's significant that the parade commemorated the liberation of Afghanistan from Soviet occupation - by the mujahideen, no less. And while many of the warlords and mujahideen who emerged out of the war against the Soviets are now serving in the parliament or running other sectors of the government, others clearly feel that the war that began in 1979 has not been completely resolved. Afghanistan remains the site of superpower intervention, and resultant conflict, through the present moment.
The world was shocked to learn of a Taliban attack on a military parade in Kabul attended by President Hamid Karzai. Karzai was unhurt, but two citizens were killed and eleven others wounded. The Taliban claimed that they were not trying to kill Karzai, but merely "wanted to show how easily they could get access to such events." Whether or not this statement represents their real intentions (I suspect it was a failed assassination attempt), the ease with which they got close enough to kill has revealed the weakness of the government's security forces.
The attack also reveals divides in how Afghanistan's historical legacy is remembered. It's significant that the parade commemorated the liberation of Afghanistan from Soviet occupation - by the mujahideen, no less. And while many of the warlords and mujahideen who emerged out of the war against the Soviets are now serving in the parliament or running other sectors of the government, others clearly feel that the war that began in 1979 has not been completely resolved. Afghanistan remains the site of superpower intervention, and resultant conflict, through the present moment.
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