The recent statement issued by Joe Biden, the US Vice-President in which he clearly differentiates between the enemy and the non-enemies in the long war may have taken a decade too long to come, but surely serves to provide clarity to the US objectives that had been hitherto quite ambiguous.
So, the real enemy was and still is Al-Qaeda that had threatened the American peace and brought war into the Afghan territory. That Taliban had never been the driving force behind this war and that to eliminate them or their government was never on the US agenda can be interpreted as the American declaration of triumph in Afghanistan which was made possible by the capture and killing of OBL after which Al-Qaeda has lost its potency and reach.
The American officials may not have issued any direct statement that had translated the Taliban as the enemy, but the objective of controlling, curbing and reversing the Taliban momentum in Afghanistan contradicts the claims. Similarly, Pakistan has been termed as playing a duplicitous role in the insurgency just because it had had enough of launching operation after operation against the Pakistani chapter of the Taliban and had finally wanted a peacefully negotiated settlement of the endless insurgency on its soil.
If the Afghan Taliban are not “enemies per se” then surely the TTP, Punjabi Taliban, Haqqani network etc are not enemies and the sanctuaries that are present on both sides of the border pose no threat to anyone, thus the need to ‘fight and talk’ simultaneously with the Taliban has lost its appeal.
And the fact that the Americans have backed an Afghan led deal with the Taliban for stopping attacks on schools in Afghanistan on the condition of allowing Taliban selected and approved curriculum and teachers is just one indicator of a great shift in the American policy. The decision to transfer Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay prison to Afghanistan and the US blessings provided to talks between Afghan officials and Taliban further exemplifies this rapidly shifting US perspective and ambitions.
Does this mean that where once it was considered “critical” that the US forces continue to “aggressively” carry out the surge strategy of degrading the capability of the Taliban, is not critical anymore?
That finally the US has come towards a political solution to the insurgency after exhausting all other possible alternative strategies? If that is the case then does it mean that Pakistan and all the allegations levelled against it will be cleared? Or doesn’t that apply to Pakistan?
Will our government, military and its spy agency be subjected to the same treatment despite this renewed US position on the insurgency and insurgents?
DR NIDA SHAMI
Ontario, Canada
