Why NATO Will Need To Make An Agreement With Pakistan For A Supply Route

U.S.-Pakistan Freeze Chokes Fallback Route In Afghanistan -- New York Times

SALANG PASS, Afghanistan — Nowhere is the impact of Pakistan’s ban on NATO truck traffic more visible than here at the top of the Hindu Kush, on one of the only alternative overland routes for supply convoys to reach Kabul and the rest of the country.

For 20 miles north and south of the old Soviet-built tunnel at Salang Pass, thousands of trucks are idled beside the road, waiting for a turn to get through its perilous, one-and-a-half-mile length.

This is the only passable route for heavy truck traffic bringing NATO supplies in from the Central Asian republics to the north, as they now must come.

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My Comment: What is the worse case scenario .... the following paragraph in this report spells out perfectly on why NATO supply routes are vulnerable ....

.... The Salang Pass tunnel, built in 1964 by the Soviets and never completely finished (it lacks amenities like interior surfacing of the walls and an escape tunnel), has a tragic history. Nine hundred Russians and Afghans reportedly died of asphyxiation in the tunnel in 1982 when a military convoy was trapped inside by an accident or an explosion.

A prediction .... a similar disaster is probably going to happen this year .... and yes .... we will need to go to the Pakistanis and make a deal .... and probably on their terms.