ISLAMABAD -- If the United States and its Western allies follow up on their promise to help rebuild Afghanistan when the military campaign ends, the establishment of a new political order backed by the flow of billions of dollars in fresh assistance will be necessary.
But success in stabilizing one of the world's most devastated countries would come only with assurance that a fragile peace could hold together for months, if not years. A large military peacekeeping force would be a prerequisite.
An array of global opinions, however, now conclude that sending in international peacekeepers under the auspices of the United Nations, as done before in other trouble spots, may not be the answer for Afghanistan. The central Asian country is notorious for its defiance of foreign forces, including those of Britain and the Soviet Union.