Over the last ten years, international community has been helping Afghan (Karzai's) government to expand its writ into every nook and corner of the country. But these ten years of international support for Karzai's administration has not produced any tangible result in terms of state penetration in the society. It is very unfortunate to say that, to a great extent, international community has lost the huge public support it enjoyed in early years of its presence in Afghanistan, when it was viewed as liberator of Afghan people from the bondage of the Taliban's brutal regime.

This loss of public support does not mean that Afghan people have begun to sympathize with Taliban or subscribe to their violent ideology because recent survey findings, such as those of The Asia Foundation, reveal and indicate a steady and substantial decline in sympathy with Taliban among Afghan people and communities.

So there is a different reason for the dwindling credibility of international community among Afghan people and that is nothing other than the fact that people in the provinces, districts and villages think that international community is backing Karzai's corrupt government, which has a proven inefficiency to deliver services and turn things around.

In other words, people think that international community has become an accomplice of the corruption in the government by failing to exert enough pressure on president Karzai to demonstrate a genuine will to clean up his administration. This disenchantment with the government is becoming a major driver of insecurity in the communities, and providing a context for the Taliban and other insurgent groups to capitalize on that disaffection.

In fact, the government not only has not managed to establish its sway in all parts of the country but also has turned into a source of public discontentment with the political processes that began after the fall of Taliban regime in late 2001.

Poor governance, rampant corruption and predatory officials are the main descriptive and illustrative features of Karzai's government. In addition, corrupt and kleptocratic officials have been siphoning off the aid provided by international community.

As a result, a sort of war-aid economy has emerged in the country, which continues to be conducive to a corrupt environment that serves as factor to delegitimize the government in the eyes of the public. This in turn has given rise to a broad public perception that the presence of international community in the last ten years has not benefitted ordinary Afghans or at least has led to skepticism about the role of international community in securing Afghanistan and helping restore the country's economy.

The above mentioned aspects of Karzai's government rendered it too inefficient and weak to generate employment opportunities, reduce poverty and stimulate economic development. And it is clear-cut that frustrated jobless youth can be easily preyed upon by the Taliban and other insurgent groups that can no more mobilize and recruit supporters in normal situation based on their ideology due to their past suppression, strangulation, atrocities and more importantly due to their continued terrorist and violent acts.

There is a surge in support on the part of loyal oppositions and major political parties and alliances in the country for bringing fundamental reforms to the government. International community should support these reformist initiatives to pave the way for their honorable disengagement from the Afghanistan.

This is the only way to end conflict and bring peace because even the Taliban will not give up their Islamic Emirate in exchange of the current corrupt government of Afghanistan. It will be difficult to rally public support for peace as long as the government remains corrupt and based on a centralized patronage network.