Sahibuddin, Wahabuddin
(2012)
Can Afghanistan be rescued?
Middle East Quartery, XIX (2).
pp. 51-60.
ISSN 1073-9467
Abstract
U.S. president Barack Obama entered office with a bold plan to combat Afghanistan's escalating insurgency, empower its government, encourage a political resolution of the conflict, and secure the cooperation of neighboring Pakistan—all in time for U.S. troops to withdraw by the end of 2014.
The increasing boldness and lethality of the Haqqani network can be illustrated by the June 2011 assault on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul that left eleven civilians and two Afghan policemen dead, and the September raid on the U.S. embassy in Kabul that killed more than a dozen people.
This new Afghanistan-Pakistan (AfPak) policy has yet to deliver on its promise. While the U.S. military surge swept insurgents out of their southeastern strongholds, the rebels have responded with terror attacks and assassinations reaching into the heart of Kabul. Washington has accelerated its training of Afghan security forces, but most U.S. aid still circumvents the central government, weakening its authority. With a political settlement nowhere in sight and Pakistani support for armed extremists unabated, Washington's options for preventing a Taliban takeover have narrowed.
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