Is This What Victory Feels Like?

Explosions and shots echoed through the streets of Kabul on January 21 as terrorists attacked the headquarters of the city traffic police. The attack follows on the heels of a terrorist attack against a government office in the Afghan capital.

The most recent attack came when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at the gate of the traffic police compound. In the confusion that followed, more terrorists stormed the facility. They were armed with machine guns and more explosives. The Wall Street Journal cites a police official saying that at least 11 people have been injured and one killed so far in the ongoing violence.

The guards for the city traffic police facility were unarmed, making them a prime target for the Taliban. The facility also looked down on a number of other government facilities. From there, the Taliban forces fired on soldiers arriving at the scene.

This violence is going on in the middle of the capital city of a nation that has been supported by the world’s lone superpower for over a decade. Despite billions of dollars, and thousands of lives lost, the fighting continues.

The nato combat mission in Afghanistan officially ends in 2014, and security will be given over completely to the local authorities. But the war is by no means over. If conditions continue as they are, the national security forces of Afghanistan will be facing a strong and determined foe in the Taliban, and will not have nato forces to back them up.

The latest attack further demonstrates that the Taliban is growing in power. The armies of the United States have failed to destroy the will and power of the rebel forces in Afghanistan, which have repeatedly shown that they are capable of carrying out terrorist attacks within the most heavily guarded parts of the country. In contrast, the Taliban forces highlight the broken will of nato, which is incapable of stopping the increasingly aggressive rebels.

Read about what’s ahead for Afghanistan in “Afghanistan—Endgame?” and order your free copy of History and Prophecy of the Middle East for more.