Threats and blackmail will not help the US

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Pakistan’s interests have to be accommodated to get cooperation

The US wants to win the Afghan war with a  small  number of troops and  a  minimal  loss of  manpower and material resources. From  May 2009 to September 2012 the US troops level was never less than 50,000. In fact it surged to 100,000 from August 2000 to May 2011. During the period the US army was led by some of its  brightest strategists and tactical experts like McChrystal and Petraeus but it  failed to dislodge the Afghan Taliban. How can  the paltry 15,000 troops achieve the goal?

The US generals believe the feat can be performed by  dragging Pakistan army into the war. The US wants to do this by implementing its ill-conceived  South Asia strategy where India is assigned a key role in the region, little realising that Pakistan has all along tried to hedge its bets just to ward off Indian influence in Afghanistan.   The bluster by Trump,   stoppage of aid and other pressure tactics would fail to force Pakistan’s establishment to  compromise on what it perceives as its national interests.

On Friday Deputy  Secretary of State Sullivan said that the US  can’t work with Pakistan if it continues to give sanctuary to terrorist organisations and fails to join efforts to resolve the Afghan conflict. The first step towards removing the sanctuaries is to resettle the Afghan refugees in their own country and dismantle the refugee camps where terrorists find shelter. The US is unwilling to do this.

The State Department spokeswoman  has demanded the prosecution of Hafiz Saeed ‘to the fullest extent of the law’. This is widely being perceived as  a favour to India. It would have been easier to seek Pakistan’s cooperation vis-a-vis Hafiz Saeed and also  the Afghan conflict by either persuading India  to resolve its disputes with Pakistan or by keeping New Delhi out of the US Afghan plan. Unless due consideration is given to  Pakistan’s vital concerns, the US will fail to  get the desired cooperation. By acting like an adversary, the US will instead  force Islamabad to reach an understanding with the Afghan Taliban which will be neither good for the US nor Pakistan.

3 COMMENTS

  1. ‘Threats and blackmail will not help’ it should be taken into consideration by Pakis ‘charity begins at home’ don’t blackmail India with your nukes it want work!

  2. ‘Threats and blackmail will not help’ it should be taken into consideration by Pakis ‘charity begins at home’ don’t blackmail India with your nukes it wont work!

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