Gen John Nicholson, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, was this week talking of victory in the ongoing military efforts to defeat the Taliban. Admittedly, the previous year saw a 9 percent decline in overall civilian casualties. Yet the world body paints a very different picture of on-ground realities. Just one day later, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released its 2017 annual report: Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict. The findings contend that the country is far from becoming more peaceful. In fact, the report puts reduced casualties down to a drop in battlefield fighting between pro-and anti-government forces. Meanwhile, the number of American airstrikes targeting the latter has increased. The Taliban have responded violently; launching an ‘army’ of suicide bombers, particularly on Kabul. Five such attacks were responsible for 22 percent of the 10, 453 civilian injuries and fatalities in Afghanistan in 2017; up from 16 percent the previous year. This represents the highest recorded casualty rate at the hands of such aggression. Meanwhile, sectarian-motivated targeting of places of worship is also on the rise. This indicates that the Taliban and ISIS are far from becoming spent forces; whatever Gen Johnson might have the world believe. Furthermore, Afghan security forces are still limited in their ability to combat anti-government forces due to poor morale, lack of funds and endemic corruption. Back in March of last year, police in parts of southern Afghanistan complained of not having been paid for weeks. Later that month, a former Afghan National Army corps commander was arrested on charges of graft; despite having been tasked with eradicating this in Helmand province. In short, civilians continue to pay the price for their country having been in a state of almost perpetual war for most of the last four decades. And the impact of this includes severe emotional scarring. According to the Afghan National Survey on Mental Health 2003-2005: 16.5 percent of the country’s adult population suffers from mental health issues. Indeed, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that more than a million Afghans fight depression with some 1.2 million experiencing anxiety. WHO estimates that in armed conflicts around the world — 10 percent of the people who endure trauma will go on to have serious mental health problems; with another 10 percent developing behavioural issues that impede their ability to function in society. The Afghan government has struggled to cope with this challenge, but faces difficulties stemming from a lack of qualified human resource and healthcare specialists. The UNAMA report shows that despite having reduced civilian casualties, the US military mission is still failing to keep ordinary people safe; as underscored by the sharp increase in attacks hitting the capital. It seems that Washington has yet to learn the lessons of its other lengthy and needless war in Vietnam that left some two million dead. Given that the Afghan war is now the longest in American history — we sincerely hope that the US military machine will not keep going until it surpasses that deadly figure. * Published in Daily Times, February 17th 2018.