muse
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those mountain-dwellers probably never even opened a checking account in their life; US State Department acting like they had shares in Apple Corporation and a stake in Goldman Sachs
a symbolic move though; quite ironic as well, considering the largesse they used to benefit from via the U.S. government some years back -- when most of you guys were either shıtting in your diapers or not even born yet.
Not so fast -- these people are some really savvy players, they can put any bank or investment banker to shame with their ability to know and create profitable deals.
The larger point is that the US wants to be able to exert influence on the party they must negotiate with and find they are unable to -- so the strategy is to get Pakistan to deny herself the influence she clearly has with the opposition groups
Some advise the US to recognize Pakistani interests -- and this is most revealing - because it suggests that the US, even after 10 years, does not recognize such interests, indeed does not even agree that Pakistan can or ought to have interests in Afghanistan - this is a reality that Pakistani policy makers seem to not understand, because had they understood this reality, the US occupation would have been a much more costly affair and the evacuation from Afghanistan, a eventuality best arrived at before 2014.