Yet another suicide attack in Kabul has left at least 19 dead. The attack comes on the eve of a critical new military operation in Kandahar aiming to strike at the nerve center of the insurgency. The U.S. hopes to thus deal a fatal blow in the campaign it has been conducting since 2001.

With the deployment of thousands of more forces by the end of summer, U.S. military planners are hoping to reverse the odds. The question is how the coalition or the Afghan security forces would ever contain the terror campaign — now a strategic component of insurgency methods. …

Afghanistan is proving a bigger challenge than Iraq and it is getting increasingly difficult for the U.S. to reconcile its policy to the inherent dynamics at play …

All said and done, the presence of foreign forces continues to source resistance and provide crucial support to the insurgency. The problem is how to withdraw. It may be a good idea if Saudi Arabia and other friendly Gulf states are brought into the equation and asked to contribute towards formulating a new strategy. Such a roadmap must, however, be implemented without any frontal western involvement. Who knows, this may open the door for the elusive insurgent leadership that continues to reject any contact with Western states, or even the Afghan government, until the exit of foreign forces.

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