In one respect, the Haqqani network's synchronized attacks in Afghanistan Sunday were a success. The Pakistani-backed Taliban affiliate, keeping a disciplined cell-phone silence, ferried fighters, weapons and ammunition from across Afghanistan to simultaneously attack multiple targets in four provinces, including two targets in Kabul.

The attacks came as a surprise that Afghan President Hamid Karzai deemed "an intelligence failure for us and especially NATO." With Karzai, the failing is never totally his.

The insurgents, using a favored tactic, occupied buildings that were vacant or under construction, and then held out tenaciously. The whole assault lasted 18 hours and in Kabul ended only when U.S. gunships intervened.

This was the first coordinated operation since Sept. 13, when there was an ineffective attack near the U.S. embassy and NATO headquarters.

And it proved exactly what? Only that under certain circumstances, the Taliban are capable of launching surprise attacks and willing to sustain large losses to do so. They failed to hold their gains, and they forced no major policy changes, neither the Afghans' nor ours.

The attack, however, does give those attending the NATO summit May 20-21 in Chicago food for thought. The attacks argue for a robust U.S. and NATO presence through 2013 and right up until ― and maybe beyond ― the planned 2014 handover to Afghan forces.
The attacks also suggest that the allies take up the offer by Karzai, who is term-limited, to move up the national elections by a year, from 2014 to 2013. That way the balloting could be done under NATO protection and the new president would have a year to work with NATO before he is effectively on his own.

We may not be able to exit Afghanistan as quickly and abruptly as the White House would like. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen perhaps went further than the Obama administration would have liked when he pledged: "We will not abandon Afghanistan after 2014. We will stay and assist. NATO is here as Afghanistan's partner."

This article was published and distributed by Scripps Howard News Service (www.scrippsnews.com).