An excerpt from, "Post Afghanistan, US-Pakistan relations stand on the edge of a precipice" By Madiha Afzal, Brookings, October 13, 2021:
"Over the last 20 years, Washington’s needs in Afghanistan defined the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, even if that meant Washington sometimes had to turn a blind eye to Pakistan’s sanctuary for the Taliban. Now, after the withdrawal from Afghanistan, Washington has little incentive to gloss over what it has long seen as Pakistan’s double game or to broaden ties. Washington’s attention is now east of Pakistan: on its relationships with India and other countries to counter China. In this environment, U.S.-Pakistan relations face a reckoning."
An excerpt from, "Get the Generals Out of Pakistani-U.S. Relations" By Adam Weinstein, Foreign Policy, September 30, 2021:
"Congress’s dubious attitude toward Pakistan was best summarized by Rep. Bill Keating when he recently described it as “one relationship that really always troubled me.” During that same hearing, Rep. Scott Perry struck at the heart of Pakistan’s insecurities when he exclaimed, “we should no longer pay Pakistan [for counterterrorism cooperation], and we should pay India.” Recently introduced legislation calls for an assessment of Pakistan’s past support for the Taliban but falls short of any punitive measures."
In the aftermath of the Taliban's takeover in Afghanistan the military and civilian leaders of Pakistan have treated the country as conquered territory.
They move in and out of Kabul without visas or any sort of diplomatic protocol. And they have no shame while there, lecturing the Taliban about women's rights.
What's worse is the West is depending on Pakistan to be a beacon of civilized conduct for the Taliban. Western officials hope that Islamabad can tame the radical excesses of the Taliban regime. But that is never going to happen. They are a package deal.
Afghanistan's ills will bleed into Pakistan. And Pakistani society does not have the antibody to deal with the Talibanization since it served as the host of the disease for over five decades.
Disengaging from Pakistan and Afghanistan will enable the Taliban disease to spread to the rest of the world body, especially Central Asia.
Leaving Pakistan to rot seems to be Washington’s preferred strategy. But that is no way to treat an open wound. Allowing it to fester will benefit no one.
The situation calls for an amputation.
It is in the interests of the United States, Europe, Russia, India, China and Iran to remove Pakistan from the map and restructure the regions that Islamabad has wrongfully lorded over since the end of WWII.
That may seem extreme, but the circumstances demand it. The coddling of Pakistan has led to the nightmare currently unfolding in Afghanistan.
Pakistan's deranged military elite won't dissociate with the Taliban or destroy their nuclear stockpile unless they are forced to by a united global coalition.
The U.S and China can prove they are mature superpowers by cooperating to resolve the Pakistani problem and help free South Asia of this bastardly concoction of a country.
