The Kabul Police... or lack there of.

The Kabul police force is under qualified, underpaid, lacking resources, lacking numbers and is expected to be making a difference in the establishment of Kabul as a legitimate government. Representative Jared Polis of Colorado recently spent 3 days in Kabul. Much to his dismay, he did many things and saw many things from Army bases and behind bulletproof glass while riding to and from the airport. Rep. Polis spoke with one Afghan while in Kabul, the Minister of the Interior, a former Soviet fighter. They spoke about many things but I am going to focus on the state of the police force. The two main problems are understaffing and corruption. There are 1.3 policemen per 1000 residents in Kabul. An average city of Kabul's size has 4 policemen per 1000 people. The massive amount of poppy being grown in Afghanistan is being used to bargain with politicians and police. Policemen make little money so the lure of any money is too much to handle.

How are does the U.S. expect to control Kabul with an amateur police force? More respect has to be given to the lowest level of authority if there is going to be any significant progress in restructuring Kabul and Afghanistan.

Where have all the supplies gone?

Militants in northwestern Pakistan destroyed a U.S. supply depot in Peshawar that resupplies troops in Afghanistan. Attacks have significantly increased since 2008 after militants have gained more control in the Kybher Agency of Pakistan. The Christian Science Monitor reports that over 500 vehicles that run supplies over the border have been destroyed. Furthermore, 70 percent of Western supplies come through that area into Afghanistan.

The U.S. is working on finding another route to resupply troops but all are more expensive and longer. Another route is imperative if the U.S. does not want to be further bankrupted. How much money is lost every time a supply depot is attacked? Morale must also be extremely low for truck drivers. Something has to be done with supply routes if the troops are going to be supplied.

War rugs

Afghan rugs are renown for their colors and scenes depicting life. Whether that be a countryside scene, a wedding, the Twin Towers or AK-47s laced by hand grenades. Many in Kabul and around the country have come to depend on selling these rugs as a main revenue stream. Unfortunately the country's infrastructure has diminished to the point where rugs can no longer be completed in country. Clean water is so sparse that none can be spared to clean the unfinished rugs before they are cut and finished. Weavers have to send their unfinished rugs to Pakistan to be finished, from there they are sold to dealers in California and around the world.

This is the state of things in Afghanistan as reported by an April 12 article in the Canadian News, "War is commodity: Afghan war rugs turn a profit on violence."

Where are you NATO?

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization gathered in 1949 to form an alliance against communism. Since the fall of Russia and the end of communism in Europe, NATO has not been called upon to do anything, until 9/11. The alliance rekindled earlier promises and agreed with the United States that ousting the Taliban from Afghanistan was the right thing to do. That was seven years ago.

NATO has not been as dedicated to the efforts of creating a strong Afghanistan as demonstrated by troop levels and funding from nations other than the United States and a few others. The US has 31,000 troops in Afghanistan and is sending 21,000 more this year. NATO has agreed to send 5,000 more troops over as explained in an article by the Associated Press.

With the world clamoring over President Obama and his changing of how the White House deals with foreign nations, perhaps NATO will agree to its side of the deal and show a unified front. If not, I think the US should leave NATO because it appears the alliance is not as strong as it claims to be.

Photo galleries: A glimpse into daily life of Kabul

I found two photo galleries, one dated November 2002, the other is from January 2005. Both show the situation that the Afghans are dealing with.

The first gallery by Vincent Thian gives an up-close-and-personal view of the people and daily life.

The second gallery highlights the terrible conditions that some people are living with in Kabul.

Pictures tell a thousand words. If pictures of this nature are shown throughout the world there would surely be change in Afghanistan to attempt to improve the lives of these people, many of whom lost their homes, limbs and livelihoods because of the US involvement in ousting the Taliban.

Exit plan already?

In a recent article by BBC News, coverage was focused on the fact that President Obama mentioned in an interview about his new strategy in Afghanistan that, "There's got to be an exit strategy. There's got to be a sense that this is not a perpetual drift."

I believe that President Obama was speaking about the amount of troops currently in Afghanistan, and not about the American influence. The American influence is something that should remain long after the soldiers have left. By American influence I am referring to the businesses and diplomats and NGOs that will remain to help build and maintain the country, just as there are these people and organizations in every modern country.

I am not speaking about politics. There should be no more influence on the Afghan government than the United States has on any free country in the Western World.

It is crucial that the US does not allow the country to fall into disarray as it did in the 1980s when the Russians left the country. If it does, the world will be dealing with the same situation as was dealt with when the US invaded Afghanistan in 2002.

New strategy: Afghanistan+Pakistan

Last week, President Obama outlined his new plan to treat the Afghanistan conflict and the issues with Pakistan as one and the same. I can not believe it has taken so long for the White House to officially recognize this. Al Queda has been staging attacks on Kabul and Afghanistan from the tribal areas in Pakistan since the United States kicked them out of the country. There has been more and more coverage from the press of US attacks in Pakistan without any real explanation of how they are doing this without consent from Pakistan. Now that the US (and hopefully the UN) recognizes this there will be a better chance of preventing attacks.

The actual strategy is to give more money to civilian aid agencies. This should improve the quality of life for civilians in war-torn areas, which in turn will help improve relations with the US and decrease the influence of Al Queda and the Taliban. Both the Afghan and Pakistani governments approve of the plan according to an article at KeralaNext.com.