New Af-Pak: Taking on Jihadi Joe

American president, Barack Obama, finally made up his mind on the kind of commitment he would like to make towards the Afghanistan war effort –and in the process decided to have his cake and eat it too. Extra troops will be committed to the war effort, he announced, but he would also like to be out of Afghanistan in 18 months.

Source: Central Intelligence Agency

The focus of the new Af-Pak policy would be on infrastructure development around the country and on training the Afghan security apparatus. Afghans ought to be able to assume responsibilities once the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, the nomenclature under which American and NATO forces operate, begin to vacate the premises.

So far, so good, for as plans go, it is about as sound as it can possibly get. Not for nothing is Afghanistan referred to as the graveyard of invading forces, and any declaration by an occupation force to depart can only be commended for the common sense principles that underlie it.

The new Af-Pak plan does two things simultaneously for a beleaguered American president – it signals his commitment to stay the course, and also reassures a home audience, tired of eight years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, that the end may be in sight.

Having it both ways on any issue is the sovereign right of any self-respecting politician, and it is to the US president's credit that he has come up with a plan that appears to allow him to have his cake and eat it too – to balance his international military commitments and domestic political needs all at the same time.

New Af-Pak
The new Af-Pak policy recognises the need to shift emphasis in Afghanistan from 'warring' to 'building' – from 'winning' against the Taliban to 'denying' them access to population centres and the political throne at Kabul.