OPTIMISM
According to a 2012 poll conducted by the Asia Foundation, 52 percent of Afghans surveyed thought their country was moving in the "right direction." (Bergen points out that a poll of American voters conducted the same year found only 33 percent to be similarly bullish about the United States.)
Bergen maintains that the likelihood of the Taliban returning to Afghanistan after U.S. troops withdraw is becoming "vanishingly small." After all, polling across Afghanistan consistently finds that less than 10 percent of the population regards the Taliban favorably. "There is nothing like experiencing life under the Taliban to convince Afghans that the group cannot deliver on its promises of an Islamist utopia here on Earth," writes Bergen.
In this photo, an elderly Afghan woman shows off her inked finger after casting her vote in parliamentary elections on Sep. 18, 2010 in Kabul. Durin the campaign, the Taliban made against those who didn't boycott the election.
Paula Bronstein/Getty Images
