Pakistan gets the driver’s seat in Afghan peace process

[Sabawoon_Noorzai]

Source: PakistanToday.com.

And "Pakistan jumps driver's seat" seems a PDF parlance. May be Hyperion is the suspect here.

 

[Hyperion]

Maybe!

And "Pakistan jumps driver's seat" seems a PDF parlance. May be Hyperion is the suspect here.

 

[haviZsultan]

But on a serious note; what does Pakistan really expect to achieve from being on the driver's seat and the ride? Can any one, particularly from Pakistani point of view throw some light on the issue?

This is good for you as it will give Pashtuns a bigger role in things.

Pakistan wants a larger role in Afghanistan after struggling for it for so many years and housing so many refugees. Pakistanis see a bond with Afghanistan. Afghan nationals do not see it and have often bashed us which has been a blow to Pakistan. When 4 years ago when this Pashtun-mania hadn't even come over me a friend from Pakhtunkhwa suggested that Afghans should all be expelled from Pakistan. I defended Afghans even then very vociferously and he blamed me of being Pashtun nationalist though at that time I didn't even know what the hell that was and was like a normal Karachite.

There is a sense of betrayal. Even I went to the other forum expecting respect but instead not a day passed without your countrymen bashing us. It has in many ways enraged me. Also Pakistanis don't know much about Afghanistan and the local thinking. If they did Pakistanis might have wanted Pakistan to be much more aggressive and assertive in Afghanistan.

It is simple what Pakistan wants. An Afghanistan that is not hostile or being used as a tool against our country. As far as what is written about "Pakistan being on the drivers seat" is pretty much rubbish.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

And "Pakistan jumps driver's seat" seems a PDF parlance. May be Hyperion is the suspect here.

Hey, now why did @Hyperion become the scape-goat here? He's not the kind to jump anybody's seat.

 

[Sabawoon_Noorzai]

This is good for you as it will give Pashtuns a bigger role in things.

Pakistan wants a larger role in Afghanistan after struggling for it for so many years and housing so many refugees. Pakistanis see a bond with Afghanistan. Afghan nationals do not see it and have often bashed us which has been a blow to Pakistan. When 4 years ago when this Pashtun-mania hadn't even come over me a friend from Pakhtunkhwa suggested that Afghans should all be expelled from Pakistan. I defended Afghans even then very vociferously and he blamed me of being Pashtun nationalist though at that time I didn't even know what the hell that was and was like a normal Karachite.

There is a sense of betrayal. Even I went to the other forum expecting respect but instead not a day passed without your countrymen bashing us. It has in many ways enraged me. Also Pakistanis don't know much about Afghanistan and the local thinking. If they did Pakistanis might have wanted Pakistan to be much more aggressive and assertive in Afghanistan.

It is simple what Pakistan wants. An Afghanistan that is not hostile or being used as a tool against our country. As far as what is written about "Pakistan being on the drivers seat" is pretty much rubbish.

I do not understand the meaning of larger role? What kind of a role do expect us to give you? Geographically, and in terms of trade and economics and people to people relations wise you already have a dominant role. Pakistan to larger extend dominates Afghanistan economy; majority of our imports are from Pakistan and so does majority of our export surplus (within this highly unbalanced negative balance of trade) comes from Pakistan. But that is not what is really the intention of Pak policymakers is it, it want to establish its dominance and hegemony over Afghanistan and want dictate our internal matters - in other words a satellite state. This will never happen, mark my word. Even Taliban will not accede that to Pakistan if had emerged back in late 90s or even if it was to once again (which will never happen).

On the refugee issue, we have always expressed our gratitude to Pakistan for providing the refuge and war time assistance to our people in a war which we fought together. A war which posed the greatest threat to Pakistan national security and integrity since its birth. We lost millions, our country, our future, where as you don't have to face the threat of Soviet forces and a communist regime on one hand and India on the other threatening you. Who knows may be I would've been talking to you being holding your allegiance to another entity than Pakistan. Afghans started to become ambivalent after the degree of manipulation of refugees and resistance politics by your establishment and intelligence.

Ironically a UN-sponsored repatriation of Afghan refugees prior to settlement with the then Najibullah's government was criticized by Pakistan and blocked by its religious parties and those of its surrogate resistance groups in Peshawar. And with coming to power of Nawaz Sharif's party coalition, the return of refugees came to a virtual halt, forcing cutbacks in U.N. humanitarian programs. Why? The truth is Pakistan was bent on to dislodge the last remaining of any central state authority while it encouraged a military solution when Najib was insisting on reconciliation and national unity government. In fact those were the times the Pakistan based resistance groups became highly suspicious of Pakistan as a result of which high degree of coordination reached among their commanders and there was then broadly held feeling that they liberate their policy from the direction of ISI et al. While then Pakistan heavily tried to favor the Islamist fanatics, it alienated and antagonized others key players by taking side. It kept trying to impose a radical islamist government of its wish.. and then come the Taliban period. So the point is, and to the sense of betrayal, it is us who should be feeling that way.

So I don't know what Pakistan wants this time around, if the driver's seat is indeed given to it. Back then when the Soviets left when everything was entirely left to Pakistan, it either wanted an Islamist fundamentalist regime imposed on Afghanistan or it many arguably would say that it wanted a decentralized, feudal, warlord-run Afghanistan. Both had its drawbacks. So while Pakistan is not ensconced as was in the 90's the strategic options are also greatly altered.

While we know that Pakistan provides sanctuary and abets the Taliban insurgency it remains unclear, at least to me, what role it'll play toward stability in Afghanistan. Contrary to the believe of people like Hyperion, we have learned our lesson and will not repeat the mistakes of the past, Afghanistan will not land and crash. So question is again what does Pakistan want, and how has it been struggling for this role? We certainly paid a high toll for your struggle and so did your people. It won't get you any where.

And what about the the threat of terrorism and insecurity Pakistan faces and lack of ability and willingness to deal with it decisively?

What exactly do you mean that it is good for me as it will give Pashtuns a bigger role in things? Seriously, if anything Taliban will set us a century backward if anything. You could do with blessing Pakistan with giving TTP that role instead. With Taliban and their insurgency we Pashtun have been the main losers. Other than that Pashtuns dominate Afghanistan and the apex of its power structure, don't you know that?

 

[fatman17]

Analysis: Pakistan opts for risky strategy with release of Afghan Taliban prisoners.

Author:
Farhan Bokhari, IslamabadSection:

ANALYSIS
2013-01-24

Pakistan's decision to release all of the Afghan Taliban prisoners in its custody marks a trend-setting move by Islamabad to push Afghanistan towards a long-overdue reconciliation as the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) prepares to wind down its operations. Farhan Bokhari reports

Pakistani officials say there are about 100 Afghan Taliban prisoners still in their custody, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar: the second most influential figure in the Afghan Taliban after Mullah Mohammad Omar, the movement's reclusive leader.

The decision to release all Afghan Taliban prisoners, revealed by a senior Pakistani Foreign Ministry official, follows announcements in November and December 2012 of the release of 26 Afghan Taliban prisoners. They included at least three former provincial governors who served under the clerical regime that was forced out in a US-led military campaign in 2001.

The move carries both opportunities and risks. "Pakistan is trying to make certain that we have a firm position on the high negotiating table," a senior Pakistani government official stated .

The release is widely believed to have begun through a carefully structured screening process that involves tracking the prisoners' movements even after they return to Afghanistan. "We are going to make certain that these people don't pose a risk to Pakistan's security interests," the official said. "We want them to return to Afghanistan and immerse themselves in Afghan society."

The release of the 26 prisoners in 2012 and plans to release the remaining prisoners is a response to a request from the government of President Hamid Karzai, who is keen to induct the Taliban in the country's political mainstream before ISAF troops depart. Kabul aims to ensure that Taliban figures do not consider themselves as peripheral players that are only able to exert influence through force. A senior Afghan government official who visited Islamabad in November 2012 said incorporating the Taliban into Afghanistan's political mainstream "is essential" to ensure the militant movement "gets a stake" in the future of Afghan governance.

However, risks remain for all the stakeholders in Afghanistan, including Pakistan. A senior Afghan tribal leader based in the southern Pakistani city of Quetta stated in December that the released Afghan Taliban prisoners would return to their homes "armed with victory from the battlefield rather than just as released prisoners of war returning home. In the next couple of years many Afghans will see the departure of Western troops as evidence of the failure of their mission to Afghanistan".

Meanwhile, Western officials who closely track events in Afghanistan warn that, while the Taliban may have been weakened after years of conflict, their capacity to wage war is far from over. This includes the ability to unleash well-trained and ideologically committed suicide bombers, who cause psychological harm to their opponents that is as harmful as the immediate physical damage. In addition to being a formidable asymmetric tactic, suicide attacks have also served to reinforce the Taliban message of defiance and inspire young ideological zealots to join the movement.

To an extent, the Taliban has retained its ability to attract young Afghan men to its cause because of the failure of the Karzai administration to produce job opportunities or reinvigorate Afghanistan's economy. While some parts of the country such as Kabul have seen greater economic opportunities, Afghanistan's rural areas have remained largely unchanged.

Pakistani officials familiar with Afghanistan also note that, once Western troops withdraw, the economic bubble that foreign military spending has created in some parts of the country may also begin to vanish: a move that will only further escalate economic pressures.

Meanwhile, senior Pakistani officials say that suspicions that Islamabad is looking to engineer a return to power for the Taliban - based on its support for the regime in the 1990s - are unfounded. Whereas in the past Pakistan was seen as the Taliban's main patron, policymakers now see the movement as a potential liability.

"The return of the Taliban as a full-fledged force will be a disaster for Pakistan. Their re-emergence creates the risk of persuading at least some of them to think of promoting a global jihad," a senior Pakistani security official revealed . "The re-entry of the Taliban to a future Afghan ruling structure still creates the danger of putting us [Pakistan] at odds with global interests," he added.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Taliban is showing signs of reinvigoration, with leaders claiming that the US backing for Afghanistan's internal reconciliation is a sign of Washington's weakening resolve. "The Americans fought us and now want to scale down the war in Afghanistan," said the tribal leader based in Quetta. "There was a time when [US President George W] Bush wanted to recreate Afghanistan as a Western democracy, but now the Americans are only looking for a barely face-saving exit."

Officials also warn that the re-emergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan may threaten internal Pakistan security. During the past decade almost one third of Pakistan's land forces have been deployed against a Taliban insurgency in the country's semi-autonomous tribal areas region along the Afghan border. A reinvigoration of the Afghan Taliban would risk giving further impetus to the insurgency on Pakistan's side of the border.

For Islamabad, the hope is that senior Taliban figures like Mullah Baradar and Mullah Omar will prefer to see the end of a conflict that has consumed a large part of their adult lives. "The senior figures will probably want to see the conflict end. Still, this entire return of the Taliban - and what comes afterwards - needs to be very finely calibrated," the senior Pakistani government official acknowledged.

JDW

 

[acid rain]

It's ironic that Pakistan is only considered because of their hold on the Taliban and the US expects Pakistan to bring the Taliban on the negotiating table but have kept them away from policy, security and economic matters of Afghanistan..this clearly shows what is Pakistan's role vis a vis Afghanistan.

 

[genmirajborgza786]

And "Pakistan jumps driver's seat" seems a PDF parlance. May be Hyperion is the suspect here.

wora from bacha khan to wali khan to maulana fazlur rahman to imran khan to Mehmood Achakzai to Saleem safi to malala yusufzai to afridi to Hyperion, Tami khan, abu zulfiqar, spring onion, are "Pashtuns" Read: "our "Pashtuns" Read : "Pakistani "Pashtuns" the day you recognize this & stop creating troubles on our western front will be the day you will have no interference from Pakistan guaranteed

 

[kam83]

Lollll At the thread title

It shld have been
"Pakistan gets the driver’s seat in Afghan peace process...Whose Break's Are Failed..Its going to be involved in Accident...Any Everyone onboard is going to Blame Driver for the Accident who were knowingly fully that brakes were fail b4 boarding that bus"

 

[muse]

"Pakistan gets the driver’s seat in Afghan peace process.

Lets see if they know how to drive - Best case scenario: they play adult and leave it to the Afghan, Reality: Milk the US for more $$