As the US pursues the endgame in Afghanistan, incident after incident has compromised its ability to stage an orderly exit. First there was the Quran burning incident. Now comes the report of an American Army staff sergeant killing 16 Afghans in cold blood, including nine children, and setting their bodies on fire. In a society that strictly adheres to the command of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, the provocation is bound to lead to more attacks on the allied troops in Afghanistan while it would provide many more volunteers to those recruiting suicide bombers. There is an urgent need under the circumstances by the US and Pakistan to jointly hammer out a policy that puts the genie of militancy back into the bottle.
This requires a resolution of the issues that have caused a freeze in the relations between Islamabad and Washington. It is time Washington began to realise that it cannot simply order sovereign nations about. It has to learn to treat countries with respect and give proper importance to their concerns and sensitivities. Both Afghanistan and Pakistan have complaints in this regard that need to be addressed. Similar concerns are behind Pakistan Parliament’s decision to undertake a review of the country’s US policy. The US needs to avoid arm-twisting the government and the army. It cannot unilaterally impose sanctions on Iran and expect Pakistan to follow suit at the expense of its energy needs and economic requirements. Similarly, it cannot force the army to undertake military operation in North Waziristan in disregard of the situation in FATA where it is fighting a bloody battle in Khyber and Orakzai agencies.
As Centcom Chief Gen James Mattis has put it differences between the two countries should not prevent them from working together to root out militancy from the region which is an issue of grave concern to both. With a change of command in the ISI, there is a need for talks between the agencies of the two countries on ways and means to deal with the existential threat. That alone can ensure a satisfactory conclusion of the endgame in Afghanistan. Exchange of information and cooperation between the CIA and ISI can ensure that the new wave of terrorist attacks in KP does not reach other provinces.
