A Deal With The Taliban? -- A Commentary

AFGHAN CHECKPOINT - U.S. Army soldiers arrive at an Afghan police checkpoint in Helmand province, Afghanistan, Jan. 15, 2010. The soldiers are assigned to the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Efren Lopez

From The New York Review Of Books:

For thirty years Afghanistan has cast a long, dark shadow over world events, but it has also been marked by pivotal moments that could have brought peace and changed world history.

One such moment occurred in February 1989, just as the last Soviet troops were leaving Afghanistan. Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze had flown into Islamabad—the first visit to Pakistan by a senior Soviet official. He came on a last-ditch mission to try to persuade Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the army, and the Interservices Intelligence (ISI) to agree to a temporary sharing of power between the Afghan Communist regime in Kabul and the Afghan Mujahideen. He hoped to prevent a civil war and lay the groundwork for a peaceful, final transfer of power to the Mujahideen.

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My Comment: This is a must read analysis on the Afghan-Pak Civil War.

Afghan Push May Threaten Pakistan

From DoD Buzz:

As policymakers continue to debate U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, we asked Rick Nelson, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to weigh in on the possibility of reconciling Taliban fighters, efforts to track down Al Qaeda and the potential risks that an escalation of the war in Afghanistan might pose to neighboring Pakistan. Nelson is a former Navy helicopter pilot with operational and intelligence experience in counterterrorism including assignments at the National Counterterrorism Center and National Security Council. Earlier this year, he returned from Afghanistan where he directed a Joint Task Force.

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My Comment: I do not see how an Afghan surge can jeopardize Pakistan .... especially since it is the Pakistanis themselves who have been demanding that the U.S. put soldiers on the border to stop any Taliban from fleeing Pakistan during their offensive in South Waziristan. Still .... this is a good review, and should be read in its entirety.

Commentary: From AFPAK To PAKAF

Armed Pakistani Taliban fighters patrol in the Swat valley Photo: EPA

From UPI:

WASHINGTON, May 18 (UPI) -- Barely born, AFPAK, the acronym for Afghanistan and Pakistan as a single theater of operations, has already been displaced. Pakistan is now the most dangerous of the two theaters, or PAKAF.

The heart of Islamic extremism lies in Pakistan. Almost all terrorist trails in Britain track back to Pakistan.

From independence in 1947 to the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan in 1989, Pakistan and the United States were close allies. Throughout the 1990s, Washington, convinced Islamabad was lying about its secret nuclear weapons program, inflicted draconian economic and military sanctions against its former ally. On May 11 and 13, 1998, India conducted five nuclear tests. Two weeks later, Pakistan responded with five nuclear explosions, triggering worldwide condemnation led by the United States.

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My Comment: I could not agree more. A few months ago I started to lump the conflicts in Pakistan and Afghanistan together. For lack of a better term, I also started to call it the AfghanPak War.

No more now. The Pakistan conflict is far more serious .... and for the moment .... far more bloodier.