The arrival of spring

Letter April 19, 2012
The arrival of spring in Afghanistan has been marked by multiple attacks by the Taliban there.

The arrival of spring in Afghanistan has been marked by multiple attacks by the Taliban there, which have taken apart all claims on the part of the Americans of victory in the country. Can this new spate of violence be translated as an intelligence failure on the part of the Americans, who had just last month declared that the Taliban were incapable of launching a major offensive against the allied forces? How can a handful of militants penetrate so deep into a heavily guarded area in the Afghan heartland?

Apparently, in the face of a failure to substantiate claims of a victory of sorts over the Taliban, the best possible American response has emerged in the form of making Pakistan a scapegoat for the attacks yet again. Is there any shortage of Taliban militants in Afghanistan that those based in Pakistan need to be accused every time a failure of the American/allied and Afghan security forces is witnessed there? It is time that the US accepts its failure and recognises its weaknesses so that appropriate measures can be taken to rectify the situation instead of thrusting all the blame on Pakistan.


Lubna Umar


Published in The Express Tribune, April 20th, 2012.