The sudden need for shared responsibility raises its ugly head once again as the failure of the American, allied and Afghan security forces in Afghanistan allows the Taliban to regroup and penetrate into heavily guarded areas and to raise violence and chaos in Afghanistan. The Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton in her statement as she discussed the attacks in Afghanistan with Pakistani Foreign Minister, has underscored the “shared responsibility for robust action…to confront and defeat terrorists and violent extremists.”
Does the concept of “shared responsibility” only entail military actions and initiatives for fighting the terrorists and extremists while the reconciliation is a journey that the US embarks upon unilaterally without any backward glance at its key regional ally, so to speak? That Afghanistan has been a volatile region for decades, thanks to the US policies of some thirty years ago, is surely no state secret. Terrorist havens still exist and law and order has hardly been any better despite a multitude of security forces in Afghanistan.
The current relations between the Afghans and the US/allied forces is hardly something the Western nations can boast of. The Chaos and violence that gripped the entire nation just a few weeks back is just enough evidence of what foreign intervention/presence does to the host country. Had it been possible, I’m sure Pakistan would have been blamed for allowing so much anti-American and anti-western emotions to spread inside Afghanistan after the Quran burning episode.
The best option is the complete sealing of the Pak-Afghan border has already been presented by Pakistani security forces. It would surely help in allowing the world to view the reality where terrorism infiltrates, not from Pakistan into Afghanistan, but from Afghanistan into Pakistan where everyone knew peace and harmony.
AYAANA MALIK
Islamabad
