posted 11-07-2003 10:41 AM            

Uncle Sam blesses the swamp

November 05, 2003
http://inhome.rediff.com/news/2003/nov/05ariban.htm

Remember those good old days when the Pakistan army masterminded and participated in the Taliban's genocidal war against the Afghan populace -- well, worry not, those good days are back.

Afghanistan's Zabul province is now back under Taliban control and a few weeks ago, four Pakistani army officers actively working with the Taliban in Zabul were arrested and handed over to the US forces. Welcome to the swamp -- we're open for business again!!

Ah!! but the story gets even better.

Recollect those nerve-wracking days, when Uncle Sam would not stoop to negotiate with those vile, villainous Taliban -- they were instead bombed into oblivion, along with a few thousand Afghan civilians. Well, those days of diplomacy-through-B52s are gone -- the Taliban are back in favour in Washington.

US Assistant Secretary of States Richard Armitage met with Taliban's ex-foreign minister Wakeel Ahmad Mutawakil in Kandahar during his recent visit to Afghanistan. Mutawakil was recently released from custody for helping the US smoke the peace pipe with other senior members of the Taliban.

In short, Uncle Sam may be 'preparing to sub-contract its Afghanistan policy to Pakistan and the Taliban' and as The Telegraph puts it:

'Pakistan will once again get an instrument to interfere in Afghan affairs directly. The situation may begin to look a little bit better in the short run but eventually it would lead to the unraveling of the entire arrangement put together by the international community in Afghanistan.'

As if to prove this very point, on October 17, 40 Taliban prisoners, including several Taliban commanders and the brother of former Taliban defence minister Mullah Ubaidullah, mysteriously 'disappeared without detection' from a high-security prison in southern Afghanistan. And now, we hear that Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai is beginning discussions with 'moderate elements within the Taliban' -- the release of swamp-monsters-2. (see article.)

So, the very combination -- Pakistan and Taliban, that helped bring down the WTC on 9/11 and ethnically cleansed hundreds of thousands of Afghans, are now being resurrected in Afghanistan -- and this time with US blessings.

So, what happened here? Wasn't it just a few days ago, that we had President Bush's special representative to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, tell The Washington Post that 'This Pakistan's attitude to the Taliban is simply unacceptable. We want good relations with Pakistan, and we appreciate their partnership in the campaign against Al Qaeda but Pakistan must do more.'

And wasn't it just a few weeks ago, that State Department officials were complaining to Time, as in 'a State Department official: Even the Saudis are doing better than Pakistan in countering Al Qaeda. The only thing Pakistan does is skim 10% off the top of the Al Qaeda presence when we complain. The margin decreases when it comes to the Taliban.'