The Taliban’s Silent Partner

The Treasonous NY Times ^ | July 20, 2006 | ROBERT D. KAPLAN

[neverdem]

Op-Ed Contributor

WHEN the American-led coalition invaded Afghanistan five years ago, pessimists warned that we would soon find ourselves in a similar situation to what Soviet forces faced in the 1980’s. They were wrong — but only about the timing. The military operation was lean and lethal, and routed the Taliban government in a few weeks. But now, just two years after Hamid Karzai was elected as the country’s first democratic leader, the coalition finds itself, like its Soviet predecessors, in control of major cities and towns, very weak in the villages, and besieged by a shadowy insurgency that uses Pakistan as its rear base.

Our backing of an enlightened government in Kabul should put us in a far stronger position than the Soviets in the fight to win back the hinterland. But it may not, and for a good reason: the involvement of our other ally in the region, Pakistan, in aiding the Taliban war machine is deeper than is commonly thought.

The United States and NATO will not prevail unless they can persuade Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf, to help us more than he has. Unfortunately, based on what senior Afghans have explained in detail to American officials, Pakistan is now supporting the Taliban in a manner similar to the way it supported the Afghan mujahedeen against the Soviets two decades ago.

The Taliban has two leadership cells operating inside Pakistan, presumably with the guidance and logistical support of local authorities. Senior lieutenants to Mullah Muhammad Omar, the Taliban’s...

--snip--

The drug trade is a particular problem because the United States, given its domestic policies, must take a stand against it and the government in Kabul, needing to maintain an upright image with international donors, must follow suit. Thus, the Taliban is free to use our morality against both.

[neverdem]

Robert D. Kaplan is a national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, and the author of “Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors in Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

The last paragraph in the excerpt is another example of how the war on drugs finances the opposition in the global war on terror.

[observer5]

Afganistan was never the problem but rather the symptom. You can never cure a desease by fighting the symptom.

Pakistan was always the problem.

[DB]

And Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, the list goes on...

[WLR]

Repeat it Slowly and Loudly

" the war on drugs finances the opposition in the global war on terror."

End it! Let the US Government control it's distribution but get the money out of the hands of our enemies..

W

[Democratshavenobrains]

Has there ever been a strong central non-insane government in Afghanistan? The country is like 99% mountainous and desert. I'd be nuts too if I had to live there.

[tkathy]

Pakistan was always the problem....?

ISLAM was always the problem!

[TYVets]

WHEN the American-led coalition invaded Afghanistan five years ago,

5 years ago would be July 2001.

We invaded Afghanistan 2 months BEFORE 9/11 ?

[MalikDelosReyes]

"We're gonna need a bigger boat."

[Dilbert56]

Very insightful article, if you ignore the news coming out of Afghanistan every day.

• There are many countries fighting against the Taliban remnants. Canada, for example, is taking a lead role.
• They are winning. The resistance has been forming into groups large enough to attack a town. These groups have been caught in the open and slaughtered.
• The resistance is increasingly dependent on outsiders. The people of Afghanistan won't willingly join them.

Russia's occupation was different in all aspects.

[neverdem]

"WHEN the American-led coalition invaded Afghanistan five years ago,"

We invaded Afghanistan 2 months BEFORE 9/11 ?

Big deal, he forgot "almost."

"WHEN the American-led coalition invaded Afghanistan 'almost' five years ago," would be factually correct.

[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping.