Stationed with the International Security Assistance Force (the high headquarters for those running the war) in Afghanistan, I get to watch the peace process unfold.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not in the room helping guide the decision-making process. I'm just an Airmen sitting in the Public Affairs' Media Operations Center watching the news that goes on about it.

Much isn't said about the peace process in the United States. But much is said here and reported in the regional media, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and to some extent, China.

Speaking from the U.S. playbook, we want to return home. But we want to come home leaving a sustainable democracy that won't harbor the likes of al-Qaida or other brands of terrorists who want to bring horror down on us.

Additionally, if we can bring the women of Afghanistan a level of security from a dictatorial lifestyle imposed upon them by male clerics, create peace between Pakistan and Afghanistan, create peace with Pakistan and India, give China a "feel-good" that we won't impose on its regional dominance, make Russia not fear our motives in its former satellite state, and make the world love us, that would be great.

But let's talk reality.

In Afghanistan, we don't want to downsize, pullout, retrograde or whatever adverb you wish to insert and have the Taliban move back in with a desire to harbor terrorists that want to eliminate us from the face of the earth. We also don't want to dishonor the more than 2,000 Americans who were killed serving our country.

In the end, peace will be achieved but the process will be dicey at best. Pakistan is key.

The two "Stans" have several similarities. Both are Islamic-based countries that fight the Taliban and terrorism, while having governments that could fall if the fanatical interests can rain their terror down on the peace-wanting populaces of their respective countries. The problem isn't for the lack of similarities. Plain and simple, the Afghans don't trust their nuclear-potent neighbor and believe that Pakistan's government is in cahoots with the Taliban.

They further believe that Pakistan wants to partition Afghanistan when the NATO coalition retrogrades (the official military term) in 2014. The name-calling toward Pakistan isn't limited to coffee-cooler talk. It is put out by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his administration. This dislike also has Karzai on edge and has him wanting U.S. military support for an indefinite term, as long as we submit to their legal system for our troops here. He has requested additional funding for tanks and fighter jets and maybe a nuke or two to make Pakistan fear them.

For Pakistan, it has a Taliban/terrorist problem also. It is their strong military that keeps them at bay and the funding the U.S. government provides every year. Pakistan knows they are a regional power, but their homegrown terrorists won't allow them to focus on leading. Instead, they spend a lot of our resources beefing up their military to offset the inside threat. But without our support, we wouldn't be sure where those nukes are.

India wants to be a player. With their growing democracy, they offer the area much hope as they are a leading player in the economic world. They fight the Islamic terrorist threat as evident by the Mumbai attack in 2008. India is providing economic aid and military training for the Afghan National Security Force. They recognize that a stable democracy in Afghanistan opens markets for their economic trade and minimizes terrorism.

Factions of the Taliban are sitting back and salivating at the prospect of coalition forces reduced and mostly out of Afghanistan where they can recapture areas in southern Afghanistan. On the flip-side, other members of the Taliban want to be part of the peace process and have sent a team to participate in the Doha peace talks that, so far, have fallen apart.

The Taliban views the Karzai government as a puppet regime and wants to only negotiate with the U.S.

While peace may be elusive, one thing is for certain. Most of the NATO troops, including us Americans, will be home after 2014.

Lt. Col. David Simons, a Savannah political consultant, is serving as a Public Affairs Officer at ISAF HQ in Afghanistan.