Power-Sharing - Goftaman.com

e justified on military grounds. The UK and Canada, in particular, have extensiveexperience in ISAF. The chief of staff of the Canadian armed forces, General Rick J.Hillier, is a former ISAF commander who is well regarded for his innovations andstrategic thinking. These units, experienced in peace support and counterinsurgencyactivities, may be at least as effective as the U.S. forces, despite the latter’s superiorfirepower. Nonetheless, the decision by the United States to reduce forces at the sametime that its intelligence agencies have reached a consensus that the insurgent threat isgreater than ever has sent the wrong message about U.S. commitment. Reversal of thisrelatively small reduction would reassure Afghans and send a clear message to the entireregion.STRATEGY TOWARD PAKISTAN AND THE REST OF THE REGIONStudies of insurgency indicate that logistical and support networks are critical to theirsurvival. The U.S. and Afghan governments agree that, despite Pakistan’s denial, theTaliban enjoy “safe havens” there, but they differ in their analysis of the role of officialpolicy. 11 Success is not possible without a coherent U.S. strategy not only towardPakistan and Afghanistan but also toward the Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship. Thisrelationship, which has been tense for most of the last sixty years, has been the source ofmuch of the region’s instability and is today the key factor assuring continued sanctuaryfor the Taliban, foreign jihadists, and other extremists. The current antagonistic relationsbetween the two countries mimic previous relations between the two states during mostof the period since 1947, when Pakistan gained independence in its current borders overthe objections of Afghanistan, which challenged the incorporation of the Pashtun areas.The Bush administration has treated both governments as allies in the “War on Terror”and has seemed tone-deaf to the historically troubled relations between them, whichcontinue to pose obstacles to the cooperation needed for success. The March 200611 For a critical view from a former Pakistani insider, see Husain Haqqani, “Pakistan is Playing a Cat andMouse Game,” Gulf News, October 19, 2005, http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=187493. Also see Haqqani’s book, Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military (Washington, DC:Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2005).10