Mission not exactly accomplished in Afghanistan, as Human Rights Watch reports:

"Human rights abuses in Afghanistan are being committed by gunmen and warlords who were propelled into power by the United States and its coalition partners after the Taliban fell in 2001," said Brad Adams, executive director of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch. "These men and others have essentially hijacked the country outside of Kabul. With less than a year to go before national elections, Afghanistan's human rights situation appears to be worsening."

[HRW's] 101-page report, "Killing You Is a Very Easy Thing for Us": Human Rights Abuses in Southeast Afghanistan, documents army and police troops kidnapping Afghans and holding them for ransom in unofficial prisons; breaking into households and robbing families; raping women, girls and boys; and extorting shopkeepers and bus, truck and taxi drivers. The report also describes political organizers, journalists and media editors being threatened with death, arrested and harassed by army, police and intelligence agents. The subject area of the report, the southeast of Afghanistan and Kabul city, is one of the most densely populated areas of Afghanistan.

Because soldiers are targeting women and girls, many are staying indoors, especially in rural areas, making it impossible for them to attend school, go to work, or actively participate in the country's reconstruction....

To its credit, the Bush administration wants to give Afghanistan $1 billion in new aid, so maybe the situation will improve.

(But please notice that, as Sadly, No! notes, citing a Washington Post story from Sunday, the $1 billion for Afghanistan will be "shifted from existing foreign and military aid accounts so as not to increase the deficit." This is because, I guess, the Bush administration wouldn't want Americans to think that a massive program of regime change and nation-building will actually, you know, cost money or anything.)