Pakistan’s Meddling in Afghanistan Bound to Backfire
B y Wahab Raofi Pakistan is trying to gain a foothold in neighboring Afghanistan by imposing its proxy – the Taliban regime– on Afghans. The effort likely will blow up in Pakistan’s face, simply because they are ignoring the adage that “you can rent an Afghan, but you can’t buy him.” For Pakistan’s plan to work, it must trust the Taliban in Afghanistan, and if history has taught us anything, it’s that nobody can trust the Taliban. Pakistan’s goal – to get your neighbor under your thumb – is a relic from he nineteenth century and isn’t practical in the twenty-first century’s globalized economy and connectivity technology. Pakistan would benefit more from fostering trade with its neighbor. Every time a bomb explodes in Afghanistan, a finger is pointed at Pakistan, accused of arming the Taliban, whose control and command center is in Pakistan. The Pakistani side of the story is that the Afghan government, in collaboration with India (a rival of Pakistan),...