Pakistanis must watch for the status of this sick-man of Asia called Afghanistan. Afghan troubles start with tribal rivalry, then the lack of strong army, and last not but least a long time negative approach towards its most helpful neighbor aka Pakistan.
Whatever Afghanis do, we must watch them, and make sure that we are ready if and when this state totally collapse.
One of the many option that Pakistan hasn’t explored so far is this. Pak army cannot remain bottled up in FATA. The real source of our troubles is the cancer of Afghan instability and tribal uncouthness. As long as that cancer is there, it will continue attracting Jihadi flies form over the world including FATA.
It is time that we let the Pak army get out of FATA, and attack the real source of Jihad, the Afghan south. This will achieve many objectives.
1- It will force the Jihadis to fight Pak army in Afghanistan and not in FATA.
2- It will also kick out the Indian consulates and BLA support centers from Afghanistan.
3- NATO countries cannot and will not send more troops in Afghanistan, so they will greatly help the manpower of the Pak army.
4- Once the Southern Afghanistan is secure, we can establish road, pipeline, and electric grids direct to Turkmenistan.
5- This will greatly improve the economy of Balochistan and Southern Afghanistan, ultimately helping Pakistan.
Pakistan must thing out of the box (or FATA) policies to deal with Afghan cancer.
**Afghanistan risks ‘failed state’ **
Afghanistan risks turning into a failed state and becoming a forgotten war, a study led by a US diplomatic and military team has concluded.
The study by former UN ambassador Thomas Pickering and retired Marine Corps General James Jones is due to be released later on Wednesday.
One of its recommendations is for more Nato troops to be sent to Afghanistan, the AP news agency reports.
The Taleban have mounted a comeback in Afghanistan over the past two years.
The south of the country has seen the worst violence since the Taleban were thrown out of power in the US-led invasion of 2001.
** ‘Mounting challenge’ **
“Afghanistan stands at a crossroads,” says the study which has been seen by AP.
“The progress achieved after six years of international engagement is under serious threat from resurgent violence, weakening international resolve, mounting regional challenges and a growing lack of confidence on the part of the Afghan people about the future direction of their country,” it says.
The study also recommends the appointment of a US special envoy, and for Washington’s Afghan policy to be decoupled from its Iraqi one.
Democrats in the US Congress have long argued that the Bush administration has failed to contain terrorism in Afghanistan by diverting resources to Iraq.
The Nato-led force has almost 37,000 troops in Afghanistan.
Story from BBC NEWS:
