After the Kool-Aid: Notes from the Obama visit
http://www.rediff.com/news/column/ob...n/20101111.htm
An interesting piece - the best is near the end.
'..........The problem is the Durand Line. The Afghans have never recognised the Durand Line, an artificial boundary that was imposed by force on them in 1893 by the British; in any case that treaty expired in 1993. The Pathans on either side of the line are unnaturally divided by the line.
This human rights issue -- the oppression of the Pathans since 1947 by the largely Punjabi Pakistani army and the ISI -- is the root cause of the Afghan problem. There is a simple geographic solution to the Afghan problem -- let the Pathans merge southern Afghanistan and the western part of Pakistan into a Pashtunistan, their long-standing demand.
That would immediately solve the Afghan problem, and Obama can take his boys home. Leaving the Pathans in charge of their own destiny will prevent the Pakistanis from abusing them by proxy -- it is Pakistani ISI and army personnel who put on baggy pants and grow beards and call themselves the Taliban [ Images ]. And consort with Al Qaeda [ Images ].
Northern Afghanistan, dominated by Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Hazaras, and base of the erstwhile Northern Alliance, could be administered as a peaceful nation, protected by NATO forces.
Even today, the Panjshir Valley (home of national hero and military genius Ahmed Shah Massoud, assassinated by the Taliban a day before 9/11), Mazar-e-Sharif, etc are not so troubled. ..............."
".......Otherwise, stripped of all the glad-handing and the huzzahs, the Obama visit to India was a major non-event. India got practically nothing out of it. But then, India's leaders do not know what their goals are, so avoiding utter disaster, I suppose, is a victory. Of sorts....."
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