A little story to set proper expectations for every one. Remember, it's a story passed down through generations, it might not be true. BUT, it sheds a lot of light on the mystery that is Afghanistan.
It is said that when Alexandar the Great's general faced stiff opposition in Afghanistan and no gains were made for a long time, he sent a messenger demanding an explanation. As response, the general took some sand from Afghanistan and asked the messenger to spread it in Alexandar's court. The messenger returned, and as soon as the sand was thrown in his court, everyone started fighting amongst themselves. Then the messenger relayed the message: "We are faced with an unfathomable situation here. The Afghans are divided in factions, and everyone is fighting everyone else. They are fighting against us, they are fighting with us, and they are fighting amongst themselves. It is impossible to get a grasp on this situation. There is something in the very soil here that creates disharmony and discord."
Now consider the following testament to the valor of Afghans from more reliable sources (at the bottom of the article, it says not to be reproduced without the author's permission, so please take the time to navigate the link and read).
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/31/o...ander-the-great-also-got-in-trouble.html?_r=0
And in this context, sit back and think about the achievements of Pakistan Army in North Waziristan. Common people don't realize this, but the reaction from UK to US and around the world to Pak Army's achievements has been a mixture of stunned respect and disbelief. People are literally speechless at what has been achieved.
And our winning formula is very simple. We don't just fight them, we work with them AND fight them, AND help them fight themselves. This is the formula within Pakistan. Within Afghanistan, our winning formula is simply described with two words: Afghan Taliban. Many Pakistani brothers don't realize this and slag off everyone under the umbrella term of 'Taliban'. We have to be very careful to maintain good relations with our major asset, because that happens to be the only winning formula in the long term. Other than this, there are millions of poor common Afghans who deserve our sincerest sympathies being our Muslim brethren, and having faced much strife over decades and even after all this they continue to act as a buffer for us against the Northern Alliance.
Hopefully this will clarify a lot for everyone's benefit.