Immobilized
To accept the expertise of the very individual sent to Afghanistan by the very president who now ponders the uncomfortable reality of his revelations, or not to? The public, that great averse beast, would not be amused; would, in fact, be livid. Livid is also the bruised fury of the Republicans who demand the recognition that dire emergencies require swift and deliberate action. When-in-doubt-do-nothing simply will not work on this occasion, for the situation continues to erode, steadily.Eight years at war and not an end in sight. It is the stuff of ancient Greek legend, where the hydra-headed monster births itself doubly anew, relentlessly, until fire subdues it. It is firepower in abundance that General Stanley McChrystal recommends as the surest method by which the Taliban may finally be subdued. The alternative being an ever-strengthening insurgence, ever more confident, determined and potentially successful, leaving the gains of eight years of struggle a heap of bombed-out rubble.
This is the inspiringly-loquacious president who exudes goodwill to all and sundry, imbued with the inner certainty that if one approaches an adversary with a smile and an open hand, that hand will be grasped in friendship. The Taliban can be dealt with otherwise, perhaps? Much as the nuclear-threatening North Koreans and the Islamic Republic of Iran can be sweet-talked and bribed away from their world-shattering intentions? So perhaps, instead of committing an additional 40,000 American troops to subdue the Taliban, conciliatory words of understanding might accomplish mutual respect?
So that, perhaps, land could be surrendered to the Taliban where they may rule their Muslim Pashtun brethren (and luckless sisters) to their fanatical-totalitarian hearts' content? This is reality, realpolitik. A different type of accommodation. And it takes the kind of naivety that one does not readily associate with a world leader, to believe that militant leaders for whom the deaths of innocents is irrelevant toward achieving their greater goal would readily acquiesce to what they would, in their turn, view as half-measures.
The Taliban, beginning its lethal life as an American-charged tool to upset the Russians in Afghanistan took on a life of its own, grew its own Frankenstein-Golem presence, taking orders from none, but accepting support from Pakistan, anxious to foment problems for Afghanistan. Nor can Pakistan put the accommodating leash back on the rejected collar of its-once functional proxy for the menacing pet has bared its fangs on its erstwhile masters. The government of Pakistan and its newly-charged military is frantic to leash its own Taliban.
Totally disinterested, in the process of accelerating its clean-up operations and point them also at the Afghani Taliban, those who do not threaten Pakistan as do the Pakistani Taliban. In the process assenting to the presence of al-Qaeda on its wild border tribal regions, inaccessible to Pakistan control, defiant of its sovereignty. One branch of the Taliban is able to strike at the heart of Kabul, the other directly within Islamabad. There's perspective for you. One day a suicide car bomb is exploded outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul killing 17, the next day another bombing in Peshawar, killing 40, injuring 100.
Of course there is Pakistan's fervid hostilities with India to be reckoned into matters where the dispute over Kashmir remains a live bomb itself. Islamabad resents India's friendly interventions in Afghanistan, interfering with its hegemonic aspirations. America walks a political tightrope of dynamic proportions, burnishing its credentials with a nuclear pact with India, and calling upon Pakistan to partner it in combating terror, spreading the largess of its generous billions to sweeten the pot.
To such an extent that Pakistan's economy might just collapse without that U.S. economic support. To which Pakistan feels quite entitled. So much so that its army and its administration feel more than slightly aggravated when new hand-outs come replete with renewed demands for military co-operation. That a foreign country would seek to dictate to sovereign, nuclear-possessive Pakistan how it must earn the new 7.5-billion aid package to lift its limping economy into life, is an insult, causing "serious concerns" according to Pakistan's top military commanders.
To accede to the demands of the co-operative venture would do damage to the country's "national security". One might query what the national security is comprised of, given that it has been only latterly focused on the fanaticism in South Waziristan's tribal areas, and has been incapable of preventing atrocities within the country's capital itself.
It must rankle that New Delhi has contributed robustly for reconstruction in Afghanistan, with Indian contractors busy building infrastructure, and its military professionals assisting in the training of Afghanistan's military. This is the viper's nest of seething resentment and entitlement that the U.S. contends with, in attempting to control the insurgents stationed within Pakistan, easily able to flood over into Afghanistan to challenge the NATO troops.
So, give credit to the Pentagon, to the Republicans, to General McChrystal, to former presidential contender John McCain, when he tells President Obama, "time is not on our side. This should not be a leisurely process", or keep cocking that ear toward his own advisers who want it kept low key and other-directed in a manner dear to the heart of the president...?
Labels: Traditions, Troublespots, United States
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, October 08, 2009
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