With the war against terrorism reaching to its final phase, the controversies about the war are getting serious. In fact the war does not seem to be going towards a glorious victory; rather the facts and figures are pointing towards an uncertain conclusion to the war, which is not really encouraging. US authorities are having negotiation with the Taliban, not caring much about the proper representation of Afghan people.

Though the ongoing negotiations are intended to bring peace and order in the country and gain the favor of Afghanistan, it seems to be widening the gap between the Afghan people and international allies. There are many ambiguities about these negotiations; Afghan people are really worried whether these negotiations are going to heal their wounds or cause them further pain.

There are doubts whether the negotiations would end with a proper concurrence between US and the Taliban. A Pakistani news channel, Dunya News, has already claimed that the talks between the US and the Taliban in Qatar have ended without any results.

The report claimed that the representatives of the Haqqani Network and Hizb e Islami led by Gulbadin Hikmatyar were also part of the negotiation which failed to have any distinctive outcome. Though the report has not been confirmed yet, there have been beliefs that remarkable outcomes are very much unlikely in the beginning of the negotiations and for some even at the end of it.

Taliban in fact are eyeing to cash as much as possible from the process and they are in a position to do so as US and Afghanistan's western allies seem in a hurry to put an end to the process. However, the Afghan people fear dominance of Taliban as Afghanistan has been through the reign of Taliban and they have a very ugly experience of it.

They have seen the worst kind of violation of their rights under the extremist religious practices and tribal values. The extinction of Taliban regime brought for them certain hopes and they had started expecting that the Western allies would support them towards a better future. However, currently those hopes seem much distant from the expectations.

Currently, US President Obama held a meeting with his national security team regarding the situation in Afghanistan and relations with Pakistan. The meeting was basically meant for presenting the President an update on the building of Afghan security forces and the transition period, the ongoing reconciliation process, the strategic cooperation between US and Afghanistan and the preparation of the NATO summit that is going to be held in May, 2012 in Chicago.

That summit may also decide about the withdrawal process of international security forces from Afghanistan. In the meeting, there was discussion about US-Pak relations as well. The White House has mentioned, "The US President received an update on our engagement with the Pakistani Government on a range of issues of mutual interest, including efforts to strengthen cooperation along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border." The relations between US and Pakistan do not seem to be getting on track after the deterioration of relations as a result of killing of Pakistan security forces by NATO last year.

Pakistan has always been considered as a dominant player in the war against terrorism. It is rightly believed that it can play a dominant role for the negotiation process with the Taliban. However, it is not the part of the ongoing talks with Taliban in Qatar.

Earlier this month Pakistani foreign minister and Prime Minister had mentioned that Pakistan backs any sort of negotiation that must be in the favor of Afghan people and must be led by Afghan government. However, Pakistan has always wanted to be an important part of political developments in Afghanistan.

Some thinkers suggest that Pakistan had to be a part of negotiations along with US and Afghanistan in order to have better results from the process. Unfortunately, that is not the case and a deteriorated US-Pak relation is one of the greatest hurdles in that regard.

In fact, prospects of the ongoing reconciliation process are not very bright and there are dangers of disorder after the withdrawal of international troops. To add further pessimism, there are possibilities that international troops may withdraw earlier than the planned 2014.

Afghan security forces, though have been developed to a great extent, are not in a position to carry on the responsibility of the entire country to a satisfying extent. However the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) believes that Afghanistan National Security Force (ANSF) has been developed to a great extent. Lt. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, a commander of ISAF Joint Command said on Wednesday, February 08, 2012, "The ANSF (Afghan National Security Force) are improving and they are increasingly demonstrating their ability to protect the people."

He also cited a recent UNDP report that found 81 percent of Afghan population had respect for police and 59 percent had access to police stations within 30 minutes of where they live, 42 percent up in 2009.Nevertheless, too much optimism by ISAF is not going to help much.

They have to see the things as they are not as they want them to be. This is a well-established fact that there are many areas in the country where ANSF are not able to have proper control and they would face a great difficulty in carrying on the security responsibilities on their own. Above all there are great concerns about the expenditures of Afghan security forces and the political leadership to guide the force towards better destination.

Now it is time to accept that the situation in Afghanistan is really grave. The international allies, Afghan security forces and Afghan government have to get really serious about the security situation and socio-political scenario. Meetings, conferences and negotiations have their own place but they can never replace concrete and tangible measures that should have the capacity to bring real changes in the scene.

The ongoing scenario is really a transition period in the true sense of the word. From here the country can either change to a better democratic country or a country with disorders and disturbances. The choice has to be made by concerned authorities – both national and international ones.