Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy
"...Although U.S. officials have become critical of the leadership of Afghan President Hamid
Karzai—particularly his decision to rely on regional faction leaders—some experts believe that
there is substantial progress to build on, including completion of the post-Taliban political
transition with adoption of a new constitution in January 2004, presidential elections in October
2004, parliamentary elections in September 2005. Others say Karzai’s relatively conciliatory
approach to governing accounts for the absence of violent ethnic conflict. The parliament has
become an arena for formerly armed factions to resolve differences, as well as a center of political pressure on Karzai. Afghan citizens, including women, are enjoying personal freedoms forbidden by the Taliban. Karzai will be tested politically in the presidential and provincial elections on August 20, 2009, which are being held amid major security difficulties, although Karzai remains the favorite for re-election, according to recent polls.

Of the approximately 63,000 U.S. forces that will be in Afghanistan by September 2009, most are
part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) that operates throughout
Afghanistan. The remainder are under the separate U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S.
and partner forces also run 26 regional enclaves to secure reconstruction (Provincial
Reconstruction Teams, PRTs), and are expanding an Afghan National Army and reforming an
Afghan National Police force—the two combined now total about 165,000. The United States has
provided about $40 billion in assistance to Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban, of which
about $18 billion was to equip and train the security forces. Breakdowns are shown in the tables
at the end. See also CRS Report RL33627, NATO in Afghanistan: A Test of the Transatlantic
Alliance, by Vincent Morelli and Paul Belkin; and CRS Report RL32686, Afghanistan: Narcotics
and U.S. Policy, by Christopher M. Blanchard."