
The problem the US faces is that even though it knows that a return to power for the Taliban will hurt it as well as Afghanistan, there is little it can do to prevent that. Its troops are bogged down in Afghanistan and unable to make any significant progress. The Afghan Army is wholly ill-equipped to keep the Taliban at bay and is suffering from mass desertion because of the danger involved in the job. As bleak as it seems, the Taliban simply have to wait out the US and then it will have a very real chance at regaining power.
Part of the blame for that has to go to Pakistan. The US has blamed the Pakistan-based Haqqani Network for the attack. The Pakistan military has repeatedly refused to take action against it, making up what some would say are excuses for why it cannot do so. There is also the perception that Pakistan sees the Haqqani Network as an asset that will help it maintain influence in post-war Afghanistan. However, this tactic risks alienating the US. We are walking a fine line between the US and the Taliban but are increasingly finding ourselves on the wrong side of that line. We need to seriously rethink our policy towards the Haqqani Network.
Published in The Express Tribune, 25th, 2012.
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