Losing the new Great Game in Afghanistan
America has gotten itself into an unholy mess thanks to Pakistani duplicity
The news from Afghanistan is not good for the US, nor for India. US President Obama dismissed the commander of his troops in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, ostensibly because of rude comments he made in a magazine article, but in reality because a scapegoat was needed for the increasingly inept war efforts there. The same fate befell his predecessor too.
The facts on the ground indicate that Obama's announced plan – surge, bribe, declare victory, and run like hell – is not working. The current thinking is no longer about winning, but about spinning a face-saving retreat. Says the Washington Post, "[the] administration is looking for a decent, negotiated exit. The Pakistani intelligence service would act as a surrogate (and guarantor) for the Taliban… The deal might leave the Taliban in control of large parts of Afghanistan... "
In other words, Obama is explicitly outsourcing the war to Pakistan's ISI. This would be a questionable choice anyway. But given that the Taliban are basically ISI in baggy pants and beards, an instance of diplomatic theater (after all, it is astonishing that these alleged theology students suddenly started driving tanks and flying planes), the policy is suicidal. A recent report from the London School of Economics and Harvard University emphasized the links between Pakistan's government, ISI and the Taliban.
This report, "The Sun in the Sky: The relationship between Pakistan's ISI and Afghan insurgents", indicts the ISI, which, it says, "orchestrates, supports and strongly influences" insurgents. It "provides huge support in training, funding, munitions and supplies", which is "official ISI policy", not the work of some rogue elements. Furthermore, it claims Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari promised to release jailed Taliban leaders if they kept quiet about it. This amounts to "collusion with the Taliban by an enemy state [Pakistan]".
A New York Times report suggests further that "Pakistan is presenting itself as the new viable partner for Afghanistan to President Hamid Karzai, who has soured on the Americans. Pakistani officials say they can deliver the network of Sirajuddin Haqqani, an ally of Al Qaeda who runs a major part of the insurgency in Afghanistan, into a power-sharing arrangement."
The Haqqani network and the warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar are among the ISI's assets. Ironically, Hekmatyar, now a sworn enemy of the US, received over half of the billions that the CIA lavished on the war against the Soviets, thanks to his friends in the ISI.
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1 comment:
Rajeev,
It is the American foreign policy' core belief (needless to say it stems from the economic might) that they can meddle with and manipulate any country to suit their strategic agenda.I refuse to believe that it is the Republican or Democratic policy - whatever the mess, it seems a shared belief to further their interests on the world stage. Domestic Squabbles aside, the belief remains strong as ever.
Now, for India - America' washing its hands completely off of Afghanistan will mean that the ISI' momentary distraction on Kashmir completely ends. (If only if it was ever distracted)
It looks like the Chinese influence far outweighs America' influence (what ever little it has )on ISI. Sino-Pak all weather friendship is the back bone of ISI' power to manipulate Americans successfully.
India (with its spineless puppets) has to contend with the Eastern Monster which lay in wait to devour it.
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