As the drawdown of US troops from Afghanistan steps up in 2012, NATO military planners are trying to figure out the logistics of how to ship out the massive quantities of alliance vehicles, weapons and other equipment from the mountainous landlocked country. According to a report, the operation requires the removal of $30bn worth of state-of-the-art military gear by the end of 2014, when the US and other coalition troops are to end their combat role.
Most of the American equipment will be shipped to military depots in the US for refurbishment and then redistributed to bases around the country, but some assets will go to bases in Europe, primarily Germany, or in Asian nations such as South Korea.
Maybe emerging scenario of withdrawal of equipment worth $30bn makes Obama administration realise in what kind of a quagmire the extreme right Republicans in the grip of myopic, dogmatic and over egoistic Manichean mindset has driven America in to, by forcing Obama to aggravate the conflict of relationship with Pakistan at this juncture.
A candid admission of the folly of killing brutally soldiers of a close ally, tendering an unconditional apology and adding flow of the compensation for losses of Pakistan instead of suspending the one already committed, would have mitigated the situation. Enough food for thought for Obama’s team.
FAROOQ KHAN
Peshawar
