"Civilization begins with distillation". Long before Bharat became the frequent target of invaders from Central Asia, Afghanistan was under the Mauryan Empire where special alcoholic drinks were prepared and exported to the rest of the continent.
Distillation is necessary in some aspects of present day Afghanistan, especially when it comes to approach of United States. Observers of Donald Trump’s speech on Afghanistan and South Asia may categorize it as:
- Continuing the interventionist policy of USA.
- No clear policy on withdrawal of troops.
- Change in stance on Pakistan.
- Nothing more than rhetoric of American exceptionalism.
The other one, often missed by editorials of American newspapers, is the dilution of post-cold-war attitude of USA towards India with respect to geo politics. For many years after the Cold war, USA has seen India with old lens as India was close to Russia during the Cold war.
This might sound dubious and one might suspect that it is Trump’s own addition deviating from the script but it is a bit paradoxical. As, nation building of Afghanistan can happen only by killing terrorists. Even though Afghanistan has been in midst of wars, occupations, civil wars and political struggles in the last century, one has to remember that there was a time of stability and stability is definitely achievable even now, if USA control the escapades of Pakistan.
“We want them [India] to help us more with Afghanistan, especially in the area of economic assistance”
Even though India has been helping Afghanistan economically, there was no assertion in official statements of USA. With Donald Trump’s request for India’s economic participation, it is clear that USA is coming out of cold-war hangover.
This change in attitude by USA can be attributed to factors like challenge from China, distrust on Pakistan and future economic partnership with India but one should not forget the work done by present Indian Government and previous Governments to ensure USA that India is an ally and it can trusted unlike Pakistan.
“Micromangement from Washington, D.C., does not win battles.”
During the Bush and Obama tenures, some generals have echoed this sentiment in different forms. Pakistan made sure that American troops only had access to the peripheries of Taliban fighters; allegedly, the ISI has been safeguarding not just the top leaders of Taliban but also other terrorist organizations.
If American troops are allowed to operate freely, there is a good chance that top leaders of Taliban and other terror organizations can become the target and this will definitely annoy Pakistan, which has been using these leaders and organizations for their mischievous activities in Afghanistan for decades.
“Afghans will secure and build their own nation and define their own future..”
For this to happen, Afghanistan needs a strong Army, which is capable to defending its borders from daily attacks, it needs functioning democracy to make people part of building their future, it needs infrastructure to keep up with hopes and aspirations of people.
All the above things are possible only if USA has the real will to work with real partners and weed out elements, which have been using Afghanistan as a backyard and Jihadi experiment lab.
“Americans have all the watches, we have all the time”
USA is blamed for the current mess in Iraq, it would not have happened if USA had stayed until there was a stability in Iraq, and the same thing can happen in Afghanistan. Taliban can come back to power with help of Pakistan and eventually USA would be blamed for this too.
Soviet was desperate to get out of Afghanistan provided there was a graceful and accepted solution but all the efforts which lead to an agreeable exit of Russia was spoiled by Pakistan. USA wasn’t even interested in Afghanistan post the departure of Soviet Union. This lead to the terror-manufacturing hub, which exits until today.
People who advocate for total withdrawal of American troops should also notice that people who have all the time will get old, and the monster neighbor which has been feeding them all the time can be tamed.
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