Avoiding Defeatism on Afghanistan

Media reports have not been kind to Afghanistan in recent weeks. The rising threat of insider violence, anti-U.S. demonstrations and high-profile attacks, the U.S. death toll surpassing two thousand and the appointment of a controversial intelligence chief have fuelled pessimism about the country’s fate. Recent setbacks must be taken seriously. But they should not lead to revived defeatism based on unbalanced assessments of developments.