Power in Kabul

According to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Kabul has been suffering from electricity shortages due to the theft of power supplies by warlords and armed gangs who show up at the power station and demand electricity be diverted to them. Corruption is a factor, as well. It strikes me that if armed gangs can show up at your major energy production facility and force employees to give them access to power, things can't be all that rosy in Afghanistan, despite the good news noted yesterday by Daniel Drezner. Matthew Yglesias blogging on TAPPED is also pessimistic. I hate to be a nay-sayer, but when I look at Afghanistan, I just see so many problems it's hard to remain optimistic.