The right place, at the right time. It's something to which anyone human can relate. For me it was this summer in New York City when the legendary Jimmy Fallon happened to walk by a Park Avenue café my friends had chosen at random. It's a nice feeling to be in the right place and a terrible feeling to be in the wrong one. The fact that location is so complexly intertwined with fate is invigorating when you're lucky and frightening when you're not. The wrong place, at the wrong time. Or if you're Afghanistan, the wrong place all the time.  

It is known as the graveyard of empires. Landlocked between central Asia, China, the Indian subcontinent and the Iranian plateau, it holds the weight of a world obsessed with power and a continent confounded by religion. With teeming mountains and desolate deserts its landscape is as breathtaking as it is insurmountable. Beginning in 327 B.C. with Alexander the Great, it has played host to uninvited neighbors hungry to control a nation that has barely tasted freedom. The struggle in Afghanistan, the central front in America's "War on Terrorism" can be traced all the way back to the Soviets' invasion in 1979. Vying with Great Britain for supremacy in central Asia, a struggle that would come to be known as the "Great Game," the Soviets landed in Afghanistan Dec. 27, 1979, with no intention of leaving. Turning a stable and thriving nation upside down, they opened floodgates of hostility and resentment that have not yet been closed. Angry at the loss of a proud and united country, Afghans began rebelling and molding opposition forces that could stand up to the unwelcome communist bullies. With a mission fueled by anger and power gained through Pakistani aid, the "Taliban" was born. Hoping to purify the country, the Islamic fundamentalist movement dominated by Pashtuns became a glimmer of hope in a hopeless nation. Proving a small group of dedicated individuals can change the world, the Taliban went from a small group of fervent students to roughly 12,000 Afghans supporting a reclaim of the nation in 1996. 

As two of New York City's greatest landmarks came tumbling to the ground on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, with them came the Taliban's legitimacy. Endorsing al-Qaida, a terrorist organization bold enough to mock a proud democracy, the Taliban acted as a safe haven for one of the world's most ruthless rebels. With their refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden, the Taliban instigated a war that is far from over. Collaborating with anti-Taliban groups in Afghanistan, largely the "northern alliance," President George W. Bush launched a war that kept a pervasive American rage at bay. With the initial objective of driving the Taliban government out of power, America has fallen into a role it continually embraces, the catalyst of democracy. Beginning to eerily resemble the struggle in Vietnam, America has seen first hand how difficult it is to end a war with no tangible goal. After eight years of presence in Afghanistan, the struggle for democracy is as fresh as the wounds of Sept. 11.  

Adopting a plethora of problems with his election to president of the United States, Barack Obama's most difficult one is unquestionably America's "War on Terrorism." His decision to deploy 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in February increased the quantity of honorable men and women fighting there to an alarming number. With the number of lives that have been lost courageously building a nation far from home, it would be a disgrace to say nothing has been accomplished. Unfortunately, the Aug. 20 election between current President Hamid Karzai (leader of the country since 2001) and rising power Abdullah Abudullah proved the largest holes in the government are yet to be patched. Unable to hold a legitimate or objective election, government officials claim it impossible to say how many Afghans were given the chance to vote fairly or, furthermore, how many of their votes were even counted. With the Taliban's demonstration of violence, bombing polling stations and threatening lives, they quite literally stopped democracy in its tracks. Unable to claim Karzai's victory as authentic, a runoff election was scheduled for Nov. 7. Hoping to prove the credibility of a government thousands of Americans have died building, Obama expected Saturday's election will re-establish the need for more American troops. However, as Abdullah Abdullah announced Sunday, he has decided to withdrawal from the election entirely, shattering Obama's plans. Reducing the government of Afghanistan to an eighth grade student council, Abdullah revealed America's efforts have fallen short. By refusing to challenge a man he likely could have beat, he amplified the Taliban's increasing ability to corrupt its own country's government.  

With a situation as complex and thorny as the war in Afghanistan I doubt it is too bold to say Barack Obama hasn't slept in 12 months. Views on whether America has overstayed its welcome are varied. Whether we have made another country's problem our problem or are simply preventing another day of terror is difficult to know. Obama must make serious decisions in the coming weeks. Perhaps the most important thing, however, is simply that he makes them. Stay or leave, American lives are being lost everyday. For their sake, it's time we take an honest look at the role we are playing and admit to ourselves if its time to pack up and leave.  

Abby Haglage haglagag@muohio.edu