The mainstream American press isn’t painting a very complete picture Afghanistan. I imagine this is partly because of information overload, and dealing with the events of last week is difficult enough without the convoluted mess that is Afghanistan.

Still, we need to know what we’re getting into. Stratfor’s country profile starts with the line “Afghanistan is a tragic mess.” The Sydney Morning Herald published this map of active factions which illustrates how many groups are active and where their support is coming from. This Times of London article, Where war is a way of life, was written by a journalist who has traveled through the country and interviewed the mountain fighters. The article I linked to yesterday was also published by Salon, Welcome to the death zone. MSNBC posted the last interrview with Ahmed Shah Massoud, who lead the strongest resistance to the Taliban and was assassinated two days before the US attacks.