[...]Another positive sign: There were fears before the U.S.-led war that Afghanistan might explode as its religious and ethnic groups made power grabs after the Taliban was removed. But there have been no serious uprisings. And work continues on a new constitution and toward national elections in June.

Threats to the government remain. Former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a self-styled Islamic fundamentalist with a militia of his own, reportedly has joined forces with Taliban and al-Qaeda holdouts. The Taliban's leader, Mohammed Omar, remains at large. And infighting among warlords, especially in the north, could threaten the tenuous stability.

But some influential religious leaders who might have been expected to oppose the U.S.-supported Karzai government have instead expressed support.

"I have two messages," says Ahmmad Nabi Mohammadi, leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Movement of Afghanistan, which has followers in all 32 provinces. "One is that we strongly request the USA to continue supporting the government of Hamid Karzai. ... The other is that everyone understand this is the exact government that Afghanistan needs now and to support that government."

In Istalif, the picnickers are not the only people who say Afghanistan is chipping away at its challenges.

Muhammad Naseem Qadeer Zada, 19, lived with his family in Pakistan for nearly 10 years. Now he's back, and he runs a small shop where he sells blue-and-green pottery — a specialty of his village — that he, his brothers and father make.

The people of Iraq who worry about having foreigners in their country, Zada says, "should understand that as long as those people are there to benefit that country, they should stay."

Says his father, Abdul Qadeer, 50: "I'm optimistic about the future of Afghanistan. Before, Afghanistan was gone. Now it is back."