http://www.opendemocracy.net/paul-rogers/afghanistan-what-it%E2%80%99s-like

I often feel at a loss for information on foreign policy issues, because news articles often tend to focus more on specific incidents than the big picture. This article is a pretty good summary of current operations in Afghanistan, highlighting some of the short and long term problems. What I get out of it is that we are able push back the Taliban as long as we have large amounts of troops in the country, but we can't keep those numbers there forever, and when we do remove them, the Taliban is likely to return. Not to mention the financial cost to our country at a time when unemployment is soaring and people are hurting. It seems to me that marking time, with no long term strategy for stability, waiting for the inevitable return of the Taliban is futile. I've yet to read any positive long term projections, and would be curious to hear some worst case scenario predictions for full or substantial withdrawal from the country.

I found the article on Arts & Letters Daily (http://www.aldaily.com/) - an excellent source for notable, engaging articles.