pakistani342
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Must read article, cites distinguished American scholars and diplomats Marvin Weinbaum and Barnett Rubin.
Article here, excerpts below
The fall of a major provincial capital on Afghanistan's northern border with Central Asia hangs over the first anniversary of the country's national unity government coming into power.
…
Weinbaum, now a South Asia specialist at the Washington, D.C., Middle East Institute think tank, says that even if the Taliban are unable to hold the city for long in the face of an Afghan counterattack, the insurgents still will have a major presence in the province.
…
"As a blow to the national psyche, the Taliban's gains promise to accelerate the public's loss of confidence in the Kabul government and its ability to provide basic security," he said. "The loss can also be expected to increase the exodus [of youth] from the country already in progress."
…
"This war is being imposed on us. Everyone knows that it was imposed in the name of someone who has been dead for two years," Ghani said, alluding to the former Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, whose death in April 2013 was only confirmed this year.
Barnett Rubin, a veteran scholar of Afghanistan, says Islamabad's condition for action to limit Taliban military capabilities were key concessions about the role and influence of its archrival India in Afghanistan.
"Pakistan might want this [Taliban advance] to show the Afghan government that it has to make more concessions on India," he told RFE/RL Gandhara.
Article here, excerpts below
The fall of a major provincial capital on Afghanistan's northern border with Central Asia hangs over the first anniversary of the country's national unity government coming into power.
…
Weinbaum, now a South Asia specialist at the Washington, D.C., Middle East Institute think tank, says that even if the Taliban are unable to hold the city for long in the face of an Afghan counterattack, the insurgents still will have a major presence in the province.
…
"As a blow to the national psyche, the Taliban's gains promise to accelerate the public's loss of confidence in the Kabul government and its ability to provide basic security," he said. "The loss can also be expected to increase the exodus [of youth] from the country already in progress."
…
"This war is being imposed on us. Everyone knows that it was imposed in the name of someone who has been dead for two years," Ghani said, alluding to the former Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, whose death in April 2013 was only confirmed this year.
Barnett Rubin, a veteran scholar of Afghanistan, says Islamabad's condition for action to limit Taliban military capabilities were key concessions about the role and influence of its archrival India in Afghanistan.
"Pakistan might want this [Taliban advance] to show the Afghan government that it has to make more concessions on India," he told RFE/RL Gandhara.
