As the violence in Afghanistan continues to escalate, Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak has pointed out that a large number of the foreign fighters flocking to the nation to take part in the seven-year-long war are coming from Iraq.

Its not exactly a secret that this has been happening: indeed transferring tens of thousands of fighters from Iraq to Afghanistan was a centerpiece of the Obama campaign, and is the cornerstone of US military policy.

Minister Wardak, of course, is referring not to the tens of thousands of US troops coming in the next few months, but the unknown number of militants who are joining the Taliban to fight against the US fighters.

But the reality is that both sides in this war are increasingly foreigners using the nation as little more than a giant battleground and the cities and towns as expendable fields of operation. Some Afghans have taken to fighting for one side or the other, but most are just stuck in the middle, hoping it ends before they get killed.

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