Afghanistan Sinking Into Chaos

Violence, corruption destroying nation, US report reveals
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 9, 2008 2:47 AM CDT
Afghanistan Sinking Into Chaos
Plastic cans full of acid used for making explosive materials are stacked up after they were discovered by Afghan frontier police forces in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, yesterday.   (AP Photo/Allauddin Khan)

A soon-to-be released classified report on Afghanistan paints a grim picture of a nation sliding into chaos, the New York Times reports. The report—the most detailed from American intelligence services in years—reveals that rampant corruption and the booming heroin trade has seriously destabilized the country as militants based in Pakistan step up  assaults. The US plans to ask NATO allies today to send more troops to shore up security, reports Reuters.

The report represents a harsh verdict on the choices made since 2001 by the White House, which is currently working on a sweeping review of its Afghanistan policy. The bleak assessment is shared by America's NATO partners.  “The current situation is bad, the security situation is getting worse, so is corruption, and the government has lost all trust," Britain's ambassador to Kabul wrote last week to his French counterpart.
(More Afghanistan stories.)

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