The Northern Distribution Network (NDN), a Europe-to-Asia resupply route for US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, was promoted by its architects as an economic development vehicle that could promote cohesion among Central Asian states. Reality is proving vastly more problematic than American war planners anticipated, however.
Some 1,600 delegates at a traditional assembly in Kabul concluded the three-day "peace jirga" with a call for Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government to take formal steps toward negotiating with the Taliban and other Islamic militants.
The checkpoint at the entrance to the Loya Jirga complex in Kabul highlights the challenge facing President Hamid Karzai as his administration strives to reconcile with moderate Taliban elements. Security at the Jirga is perhaps heavier than at a major Western airport, with all vehicles and equipment being swabbed and checked for evidence of bomb-making residue.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and many of his top cabinet ministers are visiting the United States, a trip that both sides hope will ease the strain in bilateral relations.
Eighteen years ago in early May, Mujahedeen resistance fighters entered Kabul, laying claim to Afghanistan’s capital after the collapse of the Communist regime. At the time, the city had not been severely damaged by warfare and Soviet occupation. The 18 years since then have not been kind to Kabul, though.
