S. led forces. Also, another drawback for the plan set in place was precisely the cosmopolite nature of the forces. Indeed, the actions taken in Afghanistan enjoyed a wider international support by comparison to the war in Iraq. Nonetheless, the specificities of each group taking part in the international effort took their toll on the fluency of the activities. The lack of coordination can be considered as being a natural result of the limited amount of time had for the establishment of the contingencies taking part in the operations and for the ambiguous nature of the mandate they were given. From this point-of-view, the results even if they were important for the population, were less than expected.

NATO got involved in the wider project for reconstruction of Afghanistan also through the Senior Civilian Representative, "the political leadership of the Alliance in Kabul officially and publicly (and) provides a direct channel of communication between the theatre, NATO Headquarters in Brussels, and the North Atlantic Council, the Alliance's principal decision-making body." He represents thus the political element of the participation of the NATO forces in Afghanistan. The current Representative, Ambassador Daan W. Everts has shown in various interviews an optimistic view on the achievements of the Alliance since the end of the war, by pointing out that society has evolved in the sense of the improvement of the schooling system, education, and fair treatment of women. Also, the democratization of the political system is also considered as a step forward especially from the point-of-view of the regional tradition. Moreover, a better judicial system and an evolving infrastructure are issues underlined as being noticeable progress in the country. He concludes that the ISAF mission is "noble by motivation and objective." Therefore, from the approach considered by the Ambassador in his mission, it can be said that in terms of diplomatic relations, NATO has had an important contribution for the reemergence of Afghanistan on the international political scene.

Finally, NATO's presence in the country is also visible through the various partnerships for cooperation aimed at supporting the defense reform, the defense institution building and other military aspects relating to the military sector reform. To date, the NATO mission in Afghanistan is the largest and most important achievement of the Alliance outside of Europe and therefore it is considered to be a rather ambitious project. However, the oscillating political signals from Washington did not convey the message of strength such a mission needed in order to establish itself as a reliable presence in the country. This in turn determined a stronger reaction of the opposing forces of the Taliban resistance. It was quantified in the rise of the death toll in 2006 by almost twenty percent among the soldiers of the Alliance. Nonetheless, according to British officials, achievements in terms of security and defense have been made, taking into account "the stability (...) has brought 5 million refugees home, the advances in democracy, the economy, human rights and women's rights." This is seen indeed a result of the ongoing partnership agreements between the Afghan government and the Alliance forces. Mostly, the cooperation in the area of security and defense reform included training of the afghan forces in order to prepare them to take over, in a foreseeable future, the entire burden of the securing of the state and its civilian population. Moreover, such programs are aimed at preparing the national forces to respond properly to the challenges the Taliban opposition poses especially in the South of the country. However, taking into account the fact that suicide bomb attacks occur almost daily and target especially the civilian population and NATO convoys it is rather hard to consider an actual improvement in terms of security.

It cannot be argued that efforts are constantly being made in determining a proper solution that would bring Afghanistan on the path of democratization and security. The latest initiatives envisage the creation of a more coordinated effort between the UN, NATO, and European Union forces that would bring more coherence to the actions on the ground. Still, despite the fact that there are obvious improvements of the general conditions in the country, the overall reconstruction of Afghanistan, for NATO it appears to be an uphill battle in the years to come.

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