For several years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Afghanistan was showcased as a successful example of US military determination. It emerged as a symbol of the accomplishments of the Bush administration’s belligerent foreign policy -- transforming a security threat into a functioning democracy. Even critics of the war in Iraq would cite Afghanistan as the place where the US had diminished the threat of terrorism from a failed state. However, the scenario was never quite so rosy as the overly optimistic commentary; since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Afghanistan has suffered from inattention and neglect, lack of resources, and a narrowly-based military strategy. The reality of developments in Afghanistan since 2005 have mocked US assertions and in 2006 the scales finally fell from the eyes of those observing events in Afghanistan. The dragon’s teeth have sprouted on Afghan soil; the armed men have returned. MORE...

Photo: Complements of Alernet. Reuters/Stringer, 2006

The US started a war with Iraq but Iran may have already won it. Although the news this week in Washington is centered on the troop "surge" in Iraq, Iran remains perhaps an equally complex and difficult policy issue for the Bush administration. In 2001, notwithstanding Iran’s mutual interest with the US in removing the Taliban regime in Afghanistan after the Al Qaeda-sponsored terrorist attacks of September 11, and its initial support for the US war there, Washington missed an opportunity to build the relationship. The Bush administration believed Iran was weak, threatened with democratic reform movements and despite, its initial intelligence and logistical support in countering Al Qaeda, tied to Middle Eastern terrorism. It did not help that administration rhetoric has often ranged from clumsy to belligerent. In 2002, Bush administration hardliners placed Iran in its tripartite "axis of evil" (with Iraq and North Korea) and viewed it as the next target after Iraq. The invasion of Iraq, which Iran opposed, and the toppling of the government, removed its foremost regional enemy while tying down its Western nemesis in an unwinnable war. At the same time it had the effect sharpening the antagonism with the US. MORE...

Map: Complements of Alernet

This article reviews the increasing role played by Spain in Afghanistan, from the first deployment of troops, at the beginning of 2002, to their present role in preserving security in the parliamentary and provincial elections of September 2005.