Afghanistan: Reaching In and Reaching Out --- The media portrayal of Afghanistan hardly comes close to imparting a sense of what this country is like. Endless articles report on the most recent bomb blasts and threats to human rights improvements. These articles are often accurate, but they never mention the good things happening every day. Such reporting is of course inherent in a war zone, but the image it paints is one of violence and despair. That is by no means the totality of Afghanistan today. Sure there are many challenges and credible threats to worry about, but most Afghans I have met during my time here remain hopeful. -- In Kabul, there are people going about their everyday lives with hardly a thought of the Taliban or what the government is up to. They are enjoying the freedoms they now have and I wonder whether they would ever allow harsh conservatism return. There are simply too many children, boys and girls, going to school, too many people opening restaurants, too many people going to the movies, too many people playing volleyball and soccer in the park. Many of my students can’t even remember the last days of the Taliban. The generation that is about to burst forth into adulthood is one raised on more education and freedoms. Once that happens there is no turning back. A few more years of the current security level should ensure their rise. Nevertheless, any optimism must contend with the terror on the ground. In a week in January, a restaurant full of both expats and Afghans was brutally assaulted, a police transport was blown to pieces, and a bus full of Afghans on their way to a wedding party were also bombed. The Taliban claimed these attacks to be retaliation for U.S. drone strikes in Parwan province that killed civilians. Their so called retribution though did not attack the U.S. military. The victims were mostly Afghan civilians and police officers, as well as expat civilians. -- These are not the actions of a liberating army poised to drive out the great and terrible foreign invaders. These are the actions of radical ruffians who show no regard for human life of any sort. With their recent attacks killing Afghans of many walks of life, most of the population do not support their actions. The Taliban are now little more than criminals. Their control in the southern rural provinces is strong, but in the north they are a despised and disregarded entity. Nevertheless there is a broader concern that their ideology has stealthily crept into the fabric of Afghan society in pernicious ways. --- The next President is likely to retain control in the fortress of Kabul despite the growing audacity of the Taliban. The primary concern in Afghanistan today is its progressively more conservative government that has been influenced by some aspects of Taliban ideology as well as widespread corruption among the secular elite. In past years, legislation such as the 2009 Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) and the 2010 Mineral Law provided some social and environmental considerations on their corresponding issues. The current Parliament has made bullish attempts to weaken both laws’ effectiveness. Broad assaults on such laws by the conservative majority in Parliament are no surprise. Their attempts at rollbacks have been publicly known for at least a year. The lack of response from foreign donors has emboldened this political faction and they have already stepped up their efforts even before the drawdown of foreign troops. --- Beyond the horrendous pedagogy employed by many Afghan teachers there are other major structural problems with Afghanistan’s education system. The Ministry of Education has focused largely on rapidly building schools throughout the nation. Admittedly there are several-fold more boys and girls in school today than a decade ago, but the quality of education has hardly kept pace. Textbooks are few and inadequate. The books are poorly written and entirely omit important 21st century skills such as critical thinking. -- Afghan society has been ravaged by interference for better and for worse. No doubt there is plenty of blame to go around for the country’s current predicament. Yet, the next generation of Afghans will have to go beyond criticizing history and will have to both reach out and reach in to ensure that their future remains secure from internal and external threats. - MORE, Saleem Ali, National Geographic - at: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/02/21/afghanistan/