The tables have turned so many times, it is tough to keep track of the current polarity at any given point in time. Stark need of a compass, a multi-dimensional one, to keep track of the Afghan imbroglio.
Consider: when the current episode of the Great Game started, the Taliban regime, as medievalist and retrogressive it might have been, wasn’t as intransigent about the whole situation as the western media might have lead us to believe. A large senate of Taliban leaders had urged Mullah Omar to evict the “guest” Bin Laden from the country because he was disrespecting their hospitality as well. It was only when the Taliban leader decided that the trigger-happy American military had gone bezerk and would attack regardless of any concessions their regime might give, that he stuck to his guns. Case of American intransigence.
The regime falls and an insurgency starts. The newly installed Karzai regime is handed olive branches by some from within the insurgency, which are turned down. American-backed intransigence. The insurgency intensifies and southern Afghanistan becomes one hell of a problem. The Karzai regime finally wisens up to the idea of talking to the Taliban. The latter refuse. Taliban intransigence.
The Americans follow suit and try talking to the Taliban. The militia places the impossible pre-condition of exit of foreign troops. The Americans don’t play ball. Taliban intransigence.
The militia suffers many losses, as do the ISAF forces. The west reaches out again. The Taliban lowers preconditions to the doable release of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. The Americans seemed to agree and an office was set up for the Taliban in Qatar, marking a milestone in post-invasion Afghan affairs. It seems now that the US security establishment isn’t on the same page as the State Department and isn’t willing to release those prisoners. American intransigence.
Presumably, the Pakistani establishment wasn’t too happy with the current arrangement. But since the fizzle-out is because of the Americans, not the Taliban, the Pakistani powers that be cannot be accused of throwing a spanner in the works. Interesting times ahead on that front, while the Afghan nation bleeds.
