(4 of 8)
For all that, the U.S. has only a rough idea of where bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are hiding. A Pakistani tribal elder told TIME he believes bin Laden may be holed up somewhere in a sprawling, mountainous swath of territory that extends from Khost, in eastern Afghanistan, south to Angoorada, in the Waziristan region of Pakistan. According to diplomats in Kabul, the area's unique vegetation was seen in bin Laden's latest videotaped statement. The tension in the border region is already high. On Saturday, Pakistani soldiers shot up a bus that tried to force its way through a checkpoint in South Waziristan, killing 11 people.
Is Karzai In Charge?
Many Afghans wonder whether Karzai is tough enough to rule a land long defined by tribal rivalries and blood feuds. "Karzai?" says a waiter at a kebab restaurant in Kabul. "He's too nice. He should be a schoolteacher." Educated in India, the President, 46, says he was influenced by Mohandas Gandhi, which may account for his conciliatory style. He seems more at ease asking questions than he does issuing orders. "No one is close to having Karzai's control and popularity," says Khalilzad. "He has moral authority, and he's not seen as ethnically prejudiced." But that's different from being fully in charge of the nation.
At best, Karzai's government has managed to restore dignity to parts of the country brutalized by the Taliban's tyranny. The sky above Kabul is filled with kites, which were banned as un-Islamic under the Taliban. Giggling teenagers pack the capital's 40 or so Internet cafes. Since 2002, some 3 million new students have enrolled in Afghan schools, partly as a result of the lifting of the Taliban's ban on education for girls ages 10 and older. A few young women in Kabul have shed the burqas that were the most obvious symbols of the Taliban's oppression, replacing them with jeans and overcoats. As a result of the lifting of sanctions and the infusion of $5 billion in foreign aid, the Afghan economy has grown more than 20% in each of the past two years. "After two years, people are more confident in the government," says Abdul Jamil Sapand, a radio broadcaster in Kandahar. "They feel more free to complain."
That said, there's still plenty to complain about. Afghanistan is years away from stability. The new national army has enlisted just 5,700 soldiers and last year suffered a 22% desertion rate, according to NATO officials. It doesn't venture far outside Kabul. In an interview with TIME, Karzai acknowledged that he needs help. "Afghanistan is not yet capable of standing on its own feet, of defending or sustaining itself," he says.
Rise of the Warlords