Taliban not the real customer
ISI is
Strike a deal with them!
Naser Koshan
The Pakistani military intelligence agency the ISI has an upper hand in shaping the policies of the top Taliban leadership. This intelligence agency is indeed the mastermind of all the insurgent activities happening in the region whether it is against Afghanistan or their mighty enemy India on the other side of their border.
Pakistan being afraid of the increasing closeness between the triangle including Afghanistan, U.S. and India is leaving no stone’s unturned to jeopardize a long term strategic partnership between these countries since a stronger Afghanistan will no longer be vulnerable to the political and economical threats directed to our country by Pakistanis.
The Afghan government on the other hand, pointing to terrorists being nourished and equipped in tribal areas of Pakistan has always had an unsteady stand in delivering its message to its Pakistani counterparts, not presenting them with the huge piles of evidence with the Afghan secret service indicating the links between the ISI and terrorists captured in Afghanistan in several suicidal operations.
Most recently, the president on a televised interview clearly demanded from NATO and U.S. forces to target the whereabouts of terrorists in Pakistan while stating that the fight against terrorism is not confined to the Afghan villages. While, the same president yesterday meeting with the Pakistani prime minister called him a brother and accepted that the war in Afghanistan is destabilizing Pakistan which is totally insane, unrealistic and a disgrace to the Afghan people while the ground realities totally denies this fake statement.
If we are to negotiate with Taliban we certainly need a strong leadership with the capabilities of differentiating between their national interests and domestic sovereignty. In fact, with the help of our international partners we can simply put pressure on Pakistan to stop playing a double faced policy and play an honest and positive role in bringing peace in the region. At the same time, the CIA and Pentagon have to put extreme pressure on the ISI to encourage the Taliban leadership based in Quetta to sit on the negotiations table and negotiate with the Afghan government.
Taliban are indeed not capable of making independent decisions on how to approach the Afghan government and strike a peace ultimatum with the coalition forces with the U.S. on the driving seat unless the secret service of Pakistan clearly give a green signal to their top leadership based in Quetta and the frontier region. Now, unless Pakistan being a nuclear power in the region is assured of all its concerns and interests in terms of the Indian increasing economical and political influence in Afghanistan peace talks will never be pragmatic and entirely applicable.
It is worth mentioning that the current peace initiatives taken by the afghan government is plausible only if Taliban put an end to their suicidal attacks, burning schools and most importantly accept the Afghan constitution. There is nothing wrong if they are brought back to the government since we have not been able to defeat their insurgency and oblige them to accept our terms but still part of their demands are also licit and acceptable to bring an end to a decade of miserable life for the ordinary Afghans.
No doubt, the U.S. has spent billions of dollars in reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan in nearly a decade right from the collapse of the Taliban regime and now either it has to withdraw its forces without the mission accomplished or put pressure on elements in Pakistan to stop feeding Taliban and fool the international community. Based on the Wiki leaks documents the ISI is always present in Taliban meetings and plays a key role in strategizing their future attacks and design their framework for conducting effective assaults on Afghan military and civilians.
In conclusion, getting a green signal from the Paki military and ISI Could bring an end to the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and will pave the way for a sustainable peace in the region.
Hoping for a prosperous, peaceful and developed Afghanistan.
Naser Koshan
Washington U.S.
2011-04-19
