People in Afghanistan and many analysts, politicians and authorities throughout the world are earnestly, and to a certain extent dubiously, waiting for the end of the war in Afghanistan. The war against terrorism in Afghanistan has taken more than a decade and is expected to end to a certain degree after the withdrawal of international troops in 2014.

At least, for the international community involved in Afghanistan, the war will end, and US has made commitments on certain occasions that the war in Afghanistan will be concluded responsibly, which means that peace and tranquility will be guaranteed before the international troops leave Afghanistan. However, achieving such a scenario would be a Herculean task.

US President Barack Obama, during his Friday visit to Fort Bliss army base in El Paso, Texas, said that the US mission in Afghanistan will end in the same way that it ended in Iraq two years ago: responsibly.
He emphasized that US forces will remain "vigilant" in protecting Afghanistan from becoming a source of anti-US attacks again, saying that the transition is underway to bring Afghan officials into the leading roles in military operations.

"Because of their [US troops] sacrifice, because of your service, we pushed the Taliban back. We are training Afghan forces. The transition to Afghan-lead is under way, and as promised more than 30,000 of our troops will have come home by next month. Just as in Iraq, we are going to end this war responsibly," Obama said, adding that transition will end by 2014 and Afghans will take the lead.

It is now becoming clear that the US leadership is more interested in how to take back the US troops to their country. More emphasis is on the withdrawal of the troops rather than 'responsible' conclusion to the war as the war is becoming notorious among the American people and the US leaders do not want to lose votes in the coming elections.

"Next year Afghans will take the lead for their own security. In 2014 the transition will be complete. And even as this war ends, we will stay vigilant so Afghanistan is never again a source for attacks against America… We are winding down a decade of war. We are destroying terrorist networks that attacked us and we've restored American leadership. Today every American can be proud that the United States is safer, the United States is stronger and the United States is more respected in the world."

What President Obama might have been pointing at was the killing of Osama bin Laden who lead the 9/11 attacks in US. However, it must not be forgotten that the war against terrorism, as the title of the war suggests, was not started just to target Osama, rather it was meant to eradicate terrorism.

This suggests that as long as terrorism exists with certain strength in Afghanistan or the region, the war against terrorism is not believed to be concluded. It can be mentioned without a tinge of doubt that the hunt of Osama was an imperative achievement but in order to eradicate terrorism from the region only achievements on operational level are not sufficient.

Realization of Talibanization and Al-Qaidaism as processes and institutions must be made and extensive measures must be carried out to nip the evil in the bud. It must be comprehended without any ambiguity that the social and traditional patterns in Afghanistan and the bordering areas of Pakistan are structured in such a way that can spawn Talibanization easily.

Economic hardships, Illiteracy, religious extremism, rigid traditional values, and obsolete tribal norms are the factors that are multiplying the number of militants and furthering the cause of terror and terrorism. Even they are turning into a valuable market for those who have ill intentions of spreading terror.

These are the objective facts which must be put in mind while dealing with the issue of terrorism and Talibanization. Military expeditions must be considered temporary options and measures should be carried out on strategic level to put an end to this menace.

Equipping counter-terrorist forces with latest weapons and extensive trainings are fine but these are not the ultimate options for the war against terrorism. The power structure in remote areas on both sides of the border that generate militants must be comprehended fully and a proper movement that has the tendency to deal with all the complexity of the situation should be launched. The governments of both the countries should be assisted with the intentions of making them capable of curbing Talibanization in addition to making them capable of fighting the militants.

Even the term "War against Terrorism" must be replaced with "Movement against Terrorism" or something more suitable. The socio-economic and socio-political realities must be addressed with true and pure intentions.

The basic intention of the endeavors in this regard should be marked with solution oriented perspectives and most importantly the war against terrorism must not be utilized as a political issue just to fulfill personal gains by the ruling elite in Afghanistan, Pakistan and America. And all these countries should further strengthen their cooperation in the movement against terrorism and should in no way leave a leakage for Talibanization to flourish.

To end the war responsibly in Afghanistan the better part of the world still has to fight with those who support terror and spread it. A responsible end to the war is confirmed when the security of the people of Afghanistan are ensured and the possibilities of the resurgence of the terrorists and the return of instability are eradicated.

War would never end if the ground is left for the opposing forces to occupy; it would end when tangible conclusions are reached with the opponents through dialogues and negotiations. Political reconciliation has to be reached between the parties at war before the war is announced as 'over'.

In case of Afghanistan, a political reconciliation with Taliban is yet to come and the world has still a hard nut to crack in order to eradicate the very roots of terrorism and exterminate the possibilities of return of the terrorism in the region.