All Roads Do Not Lead to Kabul

Nir Rosen reports that Kabul is a vabrant city. The rest of Afghanistan is a hellhole.

Rosen saw burning bodies in the Wardak western province. U.S. and NATO forces have difficulty moving conveys because of IEDs. The Taliban and other militant movements are Wardak province's unofficial government.

Given its location in between more populous urban centers, insurgents have made alarming gains in Wardak.

A shadow government collects taxes and runs roadside checkpoints, according to intelligence reports and residents, while fighters - many of them foreign - are largely free to train, stash arms and kidnap victims without interference.

The United States spent $270 million on a highway connecting Kabul to Kandahar. The highway is littered with car wreakage. In June of 2008, 54 trucks were destroyed in the Logar province. The goal of insurgent has been effective: take Afghanistan.

Former CIA Counterterrorist Center's Osama Bin Laden station chief Michael Scheuer wrote about how the Afghanistan people will never accept a Western occupation. The Afghan people feel the same about Americans as they do the Russians. Kabul will fall when Western forces leave.