Despite the obsessive rhetoric of people who desire nothing more than to blame Bush for everything, U.S. along with Afghan forces are making progress in the fight against jihadist coming in from Pakistan. There is still work to do, and there are some problems, but it is not out of control like propagandists want you to think.

In spring and summer of 2006, Taliban fighters reasserted themselves in isolated communities in the country. However, U.S. and NATO forces pushed the Taliban fighters out in relatively short order. Still, the Taliban had a small psychological victory out of the offensive. The general said the Taliban isn’t strong militarily; instead they’ll try to duplicate that psychological victory. “(They are trying) to undermine the will of the Afghan people, trying to separate the Afghan people from their government, trying to show that Afghan national security forces, NATO forces, U.S. forces are not up to the task,” he said. Still, U.S. and other coalition and NATO forces here are up to the task, he said. “I’m very confident that, as I look at what we’re doing now, although it is going to be a violent spring and we’re going to have violence into the summer, I’m absolutely confident that we will be able to dominate,” he said.

 In addition, the Taliban has less capability than last year, Eikenberry said. The Dec. 19 death of Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani one of the top three Taliban commanders, is indicative of the success the coalition has been having against mid-level and senior-level Taliban leaders. One aspect that is not working well, however, is an agreement by Pakistani tribal leaders in North Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwestern Pakistan that borders Afghanistan, to stop Taliban infiltration. Eikenberry said force levels in Afghanistan cannot be limited to NATO or U.S. forces any more. “The Afghan National Army is starting to deliver capability,” he said. “They are starting to acquit themselves well on the battlefield, and the Taliban is gaining a very healthy respect for that force.”

 He said the Afghan police force also is making strides. “We are in a campaign right now where we have had extraordinary political success,” he said. “Ninety percent of the people of Afghanistan … firmly reject the Taliban. The government remains popular. At the same time, the question the people of Afghanistan … want answered is not how to elect a government, but what is this government delivering to them.” Eikenberry said it is easy to see the negatives in Afghanistan: It is a poor country; it does have divisions; it does expect a Taliban offensive. “On the surface, we’re going to have some violence here this spring,” he said. “But under the surface,” he added, “there are some very strong currents that are going in the right direction: The government of Afghanistan is much stronger right now; it has a much better set of governors than it did four years ago; it has a much more capable army (and) police force.”