As the 2014 withdrawal date for US forces in Afghanistan approaches, the military and government have to decide whether to hand over the numerous bases and checkpoints to the Afghan military or raze them. However, the real question is whether the Afghan military can successfully maintain the military bases that the US army will be leaving.

The U.S. insists that many of the remaining outposts--like Forward Operating Base Tillman--would "be too challenging to sustain given Afghanistan's limited capabilities" once U.S. troops leave the country.

Because of this, U.S. commanders are concerned that additional outposts they hand to Afghan forces will slowly be overtaken and occupied by insurgent groups.

It's a legitimate concern not only for the US military but also for the average American citizen. If the 193 bases left over are given to the Afghan army then what is going to stop the Taliban from taking them from the Afghanistan government? The US army won't be there to help them, and most of you probably don't have the biggest faith in the Afghan army, much less the government.

The Taliban have proved to be resilient. Taliban attacks on Afghanistan and foreign troops have failed to decline despite Obama's surge in Afghanistan. Yet, the Afghan government wants you to have faith that they can deal with the problem that will ultimately begin once the US army leaves. The problem being the subsequent reemergence of the Taliban.

Perhaps, the demolishment of the leftover bases is preferable to letting an unproven army take possession of them.

John-Pierre Maeli writes weekly on his blog, The Political Informer.  You can learn more by following him on Google+