Report: Afghan Security Deteriorating

Claims of Progress Ring Hollow Following Latest Report

Despite repeated claims of progress from their American allies, the latest quarterly report from the Canadian government cautions that the security situation in Afghanistan is continuing to worsen.

The report cites an “increasingly volatile” nation in which assassinations are growing and casualties are reaching new record levels on a regular basis. Though they claim some progress in distributing polio vaccinations they make it clear that the security situation is getting worse, not better.

The report comes at an inopportune time for NATO, as the deaths of nine troops yesterday brought the 2010 death toll, with over three months left, to the worst since the war began. The war’s unpopularity and worsening situation are a bad combination for politicians aiming to make a career out of selling the conflict, and has led to a number of efforts to downplay just how bad things really are.

And they are bad. Every day of worsening violence is met with predictions that things will get worse before they get better, and every claim that the election was a success is followed by a dozen reports from the ground about ballot stuffing and fraud. Afghanistan remains a mess.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.