Pksecurity
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Americans have now realized that they should have pursued negotiated settlement of Afghan problem with the Taliban long ago. The on-going American effort is, therefore, too little too late. And this negotiation is being pursued when the Taliban are trying to talk with the West from the position of strength. If the Americans have decided to talk now, they have wasted hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money, and 3300 soldiers’ lives, for nothing.
General Nick Carter, Britain’s senior general in Afghanistan and deputy commander of NATO-led forces reportedly told a London-based newspaper that an opportunity to bring peace to Afghanistan was missed when the Taliban were on the defensive, and on the run, in 2002 after they were ousted following the 9/11 attacks.
But Pakistan’s disgraced ambassador, Husain Haqqani, has given his own brilliant ideas to Americans. In his op-ed in The New York Times, he has reminded the Americans that they are still planning to talk to the Taliban, despite the fact that the group attacked the presidential palace and a C.I.A. office in Kabul, Afghanistan earlier this week. As was the case in the 1990s, negotiating with the Taliban now would be a grievous mistake.
Mr. Haqqani, who was Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US and commonly perceived as American ambassador in Washington DC, was sacked unceremoniously in 2011 under pressure from the security establishment for compromising Pakistan’s security interests. He is facing a case in Pakistan’s apex court and has turned fugitive from Pakistani law. He has, as usual, attacked Pakistan’s security institutions and made a statement that misrepresents Pakistan’s intentions about peace in Afghanistan. According to him, there is no reason to believe — and no evidence — that the Taliban are now ready for political accommodation. Pakistan’s rationale for the talks differs little from the last two times it tried to save the Taliban from America’s wrath, after the bombings of the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and immediately after 9/11. Pakistan’s goal has always been to arrange American talks with the Taliban without being responsible for the outcome.
There should be no doubt that Pakistan wields an influence of sorts with the Afghan Taliban and has paid heavy price in the form of TTP and its terrorist activities against the state. This outfit was raised by Karzai regime and funded and armed by the US and India through Afghan intelligence. With Pakistan helping Americans to talk to the Taliban and persuading the Taliban to come to the negotiating table, it is serving not only the cause of a stable Afghanistan post-2014, it is also denying a space to India in Afghanistan for its national security objectives. This is the reason of the fury of Karzai and his Indian handlers.
Karzai tried to frustrate the Doha Talks on behalf of India and now Haqqani is supporting the cause of Karzai and India and trying to convince Americans not to expect too much from the outcome. The unfortunate reality is that Haqqani was one-time Pakistan envoy to the US and his opinion is taken seriously. But will the realist American’s heed to his advice this time around? Very unlikely because Americans want to pull out at all costa and want their pull-out smooth and trouble free. Columnist and analyst Ahmed Quraishi has summed up Haqqani’s intention in his tweet saying, he springs up like a frog every time CIA activates media contacts on any issue.
Doha Talks: Pakistan's disgraced ambassador supports Karzai and his Indian handlers
General Nick Carter, Britain’s senior general in Afghanistan and deputy commander of NATO-led forces reportedly told a London-based newspaper that an opportunity to bring peace to Afghanistan was missed when the Taliban were on the defensive, and on the run, in 2002 after they were ousted following the 9/11 attacks.
But Pakistan’s disgraced ambassador, Husain Haqqani, has given his own brilliant ideas to Americans. In his op-ed in The New York Times, he has reminded the Americans that they are still planning to talk to the Taliban, despite the fact that the group attacked the presidential palace and a C.I.A. office in Kabul, Afghanistan earlier this week. As was the case in the 1990s, negotiating with the Taliban now would be a grievous mistake.
Mr. Haqqani, who was Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US and commonly perceived as American ambassador in Washington DC, was sacked unceremoniously in 2011 under pressure from the security establishment for compromising Pakistan’s security interests. He is facing a case in Pakistan’s apex court and has turned fugitive from Pakistani law. He has, as usual, attacked Pakistan’s security institutions and made a statement that misrepresents Pakistan’s intentions about peace in Afghanistan. According to him, there is no reason to believe — and no evidence — that the Taliban are now ready for political accommodation. Pakistan’s rationale for the talks differs little from the last two times it tried to save the Taliban from America’s wrath, after the bombings of the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and immediately after 9/11. Pakistan’s goal has always been to arrange American talks with the Taliban without being responsible for the outcome.
There should be no doubt that Pakistan wields an influence of sorts with the Afghan Taliban and has paid heavy price in the form of TTP and its terrorist activities against the state. This outfit was raised by Karzai regime and funded and armed by the US and India through Afghan intelligence. With Pakistan helping Americans to talk to the Taliban and persuading the Taliban to come to the negotiating table, it is serving not only the cause of a stable Afghanistan post-2014, it is also denying a space to India in Afghanistan for its national security objectives. This is the reason of the fury of Karzai and his Indian handlers.
Karzai tried to frustrate the Doha Talks on behalf of India and now Haqqani is supporting the cause of Karzai and India and trying to convince Americans not to expect too much from the outcome. The unfortunate reality is that Haqqani was one-time Pakistan envoy to the US and his opinion is taken seriously. But will the realist American’s heed to his advice this time around? Very unlikely because Americans want to pull out at all costa and want their pull-out smooth and trouble free. Columnist and analyst Ahmed Quraishi has summed up Haqqani’s intention in his tweet saying, he springs up like a frog every time CIA activates media contacts on any issue.
Doha Talks: Pakistan's disgraced ambassador supports Karzai and his Indian handlers
