How to Fix Afghanistan

From what i can recall, most if not all, media attention in the US is focussed on the war in Iraq, and the troop surge and everything else related to that country. I think we've forgotten about Afghanistan, and the fact that we are still battling a more powerful Taliban, with more resources, and more strategy than we've seen since toppling them. Maybe its that NATO took over the war that has drawn attention away from individual countries, but 6 Canadian troops died recently, and based on news reports, that is a taste of whats to come. Here are some of the problems regarding Afghanistan:

Taliban-Opium alliance

US's unilateral oath of silence with Iran

Pakistan

Indo-Pakistani rivalry

Development

Security

I think the most alarming aspect of the fight to protect Afghanistan's democracy is the alliance between the Taliban and opium. This can easily turn into a Colombia-style continuous civil war. A potential solution is to get Afghanistan into producing legal, medical opium used for medication. Right now, India is the largest producer of legal opium (if my memory is correct). If we cannot do this, we must find a way to legalize it, because we cannot find anything to replace it with the value it produces. Afghanistan's poor infrastructure only compounds the problem, as it makes opium more attractive due to its concentrated size. Tackling opium should be priority number 1.

The next thing that needs to be dealt with is Pakistan. Pakistan is the gardener that sowed the seeds of the Taliban, and if that is the case, the ISI and Pakistani military are the garden hoes and fertilizer that were employed to grow it. If Pakistani support, and opium support were eliminated, the Taliban would be reduced to rubble. In order for Pakistan to give up on the Taleban many things must occur. It would be easier to change the regime in Islamabad than to cut the link between Pakistan and the Taliban. As such, i have no solution for this problem.

Iranian oath of silence, it has been reported that Iran held and detained key Al Quada and Taliban men when they fled Afghanistan during the US war. Iran was even working with America in sending these men to the US for intelligence questioning. All of this came to a screeching halt when dufus King Bush gave his axis of evil speech. We must engage Iran, not by talking to their dufus president with depressing public support, but to the religious leaders that hold the power. I understand that everything Islamic Republic stands for is against mr. "Crusader", but i'm pretty sure talking to the commies was bad during the cold war, we still did it, and came out on top.

The Indo-Pakistani rivalry has spilled over into Afghanistan with India securing great relations with Afghanistan, being its 4th largest donor. Hamid Karzai was educated at an Indian University, India has brought Iran and Afghanistan closer by working with Iran to give Afghanistan an alternative route to the sea. India is working on building vital infrastructure throughout Afghanistan, training Afghani professionals, and has successfully lobbied for Afghanistan's entry into the SAARC (a regional South Asian council). All of this, in addition to a new Indian base in Tajikistan has led to Pakistani fears of strategic encirclement that is unacceptable to Islamabad. Again this fear feeds the Taliban, and is hard to fix. I do not have an answer to it.

Development and security go hand in hand, places that are secure may be developed. The original neocon plan for Iraq was based on this principle. They wished to create a tax heaven for corporations, secure the area, and watch capitalism work. Unfortunately, there is a vicious cycle of insecurity leading to lack of development contributing to insecurity. The key for Afghanistan is to reward those who are peaceful with development, and hope for that peace to spread, and with it prosperity.

Thats all i got, hopefully others can contribute and we can try to figure this thing out