The Economist has an article that covers the situation in Afghanistan since we’ve gone on to our Excellent Iraq Adventure. The lede is interesting on its own:

SUPPOSE the western powers occupying Iraq were largely to withdraw to the capital, leaving the warlords, their militias and remnants of the former regime to divide the rest of the country up among themselves. Suppose they were to cut their troop numbers to a sixth of the current total, and were to offer half as much aid per person. Suppose, in short, that the western powers were to do less and risk less but leave themselves less exposed to insurrections, sabotage or bad publicity as a result. Iraq would then look much like the West?s other post-9/11 protectorate, Afghanistan. There, little is ventured, precious little is gained, but, as a result, not much is reported either.