From the conference. "NATO chief: Afghanistan on road to stability"
"Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer predicts resistance will fall by 2009."
Now that's interesting. One wonders what he means by "stability".
The countryside is controlled by hostile forces, as are parts of the two major cities. Opium is the biggest cash crop, supplying 90% of the world's demand, and Karzai is guarded by foreign mercenaries. Afghanis can't be trusted for that. All that's holding him in power, as in Iraq, is a foreign military occupation.
I guess we'll see.
Arf