Signs of potential trouble in Afghanistan

Reports say contingency plans are being drawn for a speedy U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Perhaps to be set in motion before year's end.

I was never a fan of nation building or an extended Afghanistan occupation.

But if Taliban and other enemies of U.S. (and other NATO forces) get wind of weakness and see early withdrawal as a real possibility, expect them to react with ramped up operations targeting our troops.

There's another area of concern for troops in Afghanistan. Supply lines.

In 2010, when Pakistan shut off resupply through its territory, a lot of logistics were rerouted through Russia an central Asian states. As tensions with Russia over the Ukraine escalate, there's potential for supply paths to become more restricted. How would our military keep things flowing if both Russia and Pakistan blocked in-flows to Afghanistan at the same time?

2014 has potential to get plenty more ugly on the Afghanistan front.