U.S. Forces Face Hurdles in Afghanistan

Feb. 8, 2009— -- You need only look at the rugged terrain of Afghanistan to see how difficult it is for U.S. forces to fight there, and how easy for insurgents to hide.

U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Milley commands troops in the eastern half of Afghanistan, which is one of the most violent areas in the country.

"We need to improve the security situation in Afghanistan in a very real way," Milley told ABC News. And in an effort to meet that goal, he said the military has requested additional forces be deployed to the country.

Two years ago, only a U.S. company -- about 150 soldiers -- controlled the area. Now, an entire brigade has rolled in with its more than 5,000 soldiers.

But attacks have only increased, with a spike of 60 percent in some areas.

Col. John Spiszer, the brigade commander, said the goal is to push the insurgents away from the population.

"It's just hard to go up into those mountains," he said. "Alexander the Great, the Russians, the British never routed them out of the mountains, and to rout every single one of them out of the mountains, I'm not sure is ultimately feasible."

There are reminders of military failures all over Afghanistan, like a burned out Soviet tank found high above Kabul.

But when the Americans first invaded in 2001, the success was stunning. U.S. forces took Kabul, cleared out the Taliban from key cities in the northern and eastern parts of the country and drove them from their spiritual home of Kandahar in the south.

Taliban leader Mullah Omar's former compound there was turned into a U.S. military base.

The story was the same throughout the country.

Jalalabad was long a Taliban stronghold. An airfield near the town, now lined with U.S. military equipment, is where Osama bin Laden first landed when he moved there in 1996.

The ruins of a compound in the area are all that's left of the home he lived in with his three wives before plotting the Sept. 11 attacks.

But now the Taliban is back, and their reach is spreading far beyond the east. Attacks along major highways have shot up 37 percent. IED blasts have increased dramatically and kidnappings are almost routine.

Fear Is Back for Some Afghans

Nasir Faizi lives in Kabul. He was 15 when the Taliban was ousted by the United States in 2001, but his fear is now back. He agrees that the Taliban and al Qaeda have gotten worse in the last year.

That has created lots of security problems.

The new U.S. envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, is wasting no time in tackling this most daunting foreign challenge; he is heading to the region this week.

But he has acknowledged that it will be neither quick nor easy.