Every foreign soldier in Afghanistan must be wishing to be near his family, friends and relatives. The soldiers must be wishing to be at their homes rather than the battle field. Of course, defending their nations is what they have joined army for but the deployment in Afghanistan and fighting a ten years long war needs patience, devotion and sacrifice. The lives of foreign troops are at great stake and every step they put forward is full of danger. Over the last decade more than 2,500 foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan. With start of troops' drawdown from Afghanistan this summer, every soldier desires to be among the first ones to go home.

Afghan security forces have fought side by side with NATO. Their situation is not much different from that of foreign forces. Being a soldier in a volatile country such as Afghanistan where death is following you every moment is not an easy task.

The Afghan forces have yet to nurture to become competent enough to defend Afghanistan on their own. With the international troops starting to leave Afghanistan next month, concerns over future security of this country have become manifold among common people and political circles. If on one hand corruption, illiteracy, high dropout rates, and infiltration of Taliban into the ranks of Afghan forces are considered severe hurdles for their development on the other lack of proper and latest equipments makes Afghan army and police to be less confident.

Time is running out for international community in Afghanistan. It has to act fast before 2014 to address the negative factors that will be left behind by troops' withdrawal on security and economy of Afghanistan. The challenge is hard. It is now making drawdown possible, strengthening Afghan troops and meanwhile defeating the terrorists to make sure they won't return.

There is need for maintaining the development so far achieved and making environment further feasible for the newborn Afghan democracy to nurture. The sacrifices of international community and Afghanistan should not be allowed to go futile and for that purpose, there is a need for optimal level efforts.