To save Afghanistan, act against Pakistan
United States (US) president Joe Biden is pressing ahead with his dash out of Afghanistan, undeterred by the catastrophe he is leaving behind. He does not regret it, he told reporters earlier this week.
Perhaps he does now. The Taliban has gained control of vast swathes at a speed that has startled military leaders and officials of the Biden administration. Before long, it will have Kabul. And the medieval barbarism that characterised its 1996-2001 Islamic
Emirate may be back in all its horrific manifestations — women behind burqas, petty thieves and adulterers stoned, monuments blown up.
Former and current military leaders, and experts on the region and officials point to one factor in all this that could make a difference, if tackled in time — Pakistan. The key to the Taliban surviving 20 years after its ouster, and recent resurgence, has been safe havens across the border in Pakistan.
David Petraeus, onetime US military commander in Afghanistan, vented his frustration in an interview to TRT Word, a Turkish TV network. “The Taliban, the Haqqani Network (which is a part of the Taliban), the Islamic movement of Uzbekistan, all the different groups making life so difficult for Afghanistan over the years, all have their headquarters on Pakistani soil. And there was no willingness on the part of the Pakistanis to eliminate those headquarters from their soil. So you could never put ultimate pressure on their leaders, on their major headquarters.” His point was simple. There was a military solution to the Afghan problem, but the chase always ended at the border with Pakistan.
Pakistan’s role goes beyond giving sanctuary to the Taliban. When asked if the Taliban could have managed their recent military successes without Pakistan’s help at a news conference, John Kirby, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, could barely retain his trademark equanimity: “I – I’m – I – again, I’m not going to – I – I can’t assess the – the – the Taliban order of battle … I – I – I – I won’t speculate about what manner of support they’re getting from any other nation state or any other source.” Kirby was being careful to not give Pakistan an excuse to play difficult.
The US is having “frank” conversations with the Pakistanis at this time, but there is no evidence they are yielding anything of consequence. US defense secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Pakistan army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa earlier this week, but it may already be too late.
Biden may be determined to let the Afghans decide their destiny, decide who they want to govern their country and how. But does he really see Pakistani as part of that self-determination process?
There may still be time, therefore, for one last, albeit, desperate measure. Threaten Pakistan with punishment, any punishment, to force it to cut ties with the Taliban. Chris Alexander, a former Canadian minister, and others, have demanded sanctions, which has been gathering momentum on Twitter with #SanctionPakistan.