By backing the Taliban in Afghanistan and speaking for its rogue government in international forums Pakistan is aspiring to be a regional power. But it is punching above its weight.
It lacks the cultural, religious, economic, technological, and military strength to defend its geopolitical gains which were gifted to them by a distant superpower.
Just as Washington put Iraq on a platter for Iran, it served up Afghanistan to Pakistan. But Islamabad doesn't have the stomach to finish its meal. It will throw it up upon its lap.
It didn't acquire its prey in a true hunt. Afghanistan didn't fall as a result of a military conquest from the outside but a political conspiracy from within that was led by two-faced American strategists.
So far Afghans have not shown signs of submission to their new masters. They have engaged in protests and boycotts. Such acts of resistance will only grow in time as the Taliban get fat and comfortable.
All the Pakistani military has accomplished thus far is take advantage of a weak, broken, and divided society that was brutally occupied for twenty years by a foreign empire. Afghanistan was in no condition to resist an aggressor.
But history has shown Afghanistan to be a resilient country. Russia, India, and Iran have to realize by now that standing by does them no good. Waiting on the Taliban to fail is not a strategy but an admission of cowardice.
As for the United States and its NATO allies, history won't be kind. Empowering the psychopaths in Pakistan will be another black mark on the war on terror's historical record.
The slave markets of Libya that followed Gaddafi's end will be a small blip in comparison to the atrocities that will befall Afghanistan should Pakistan be allowed to remain in charge.
Pakistan's history of genocidal crimes in East Pakistan will be repeated in Afghanistan. There should be no doubts about that. As students of the slimy British empire, the Pakistani military has learned every trick in the book of conquest, from mass starvation to divide and rule.
Empires can get away with genocidal crimes. Pakistan has only been able to do so because it is protected by the two empires of our age. Washington and Beijing have utilized Pakistan at the expense of its many indigenous victims.
China has its own geopolitical reasons, but why does the West continue to hide Pakistan's atrocities?
The U.S. and NATO have a historic responsibility to punish Pakistan's military for their crimes against the Afghan nation.
The idea of isolating Pakistan can't be realized through mere words or symbolic gestures at sporting competitions. It has to be real. And that means putting sanctions on Pakistan’s military and political leaders.
Washington once argued against penalizing Islamabad, saying that Pakistan could retaliate against its supply routes and bases in the region. It can no longer make the same excuses.
An excerpt from, "The US just got out of Afghanistan and it's already at risk of getting sucked into another country's war" By Daniel DePetris, Business Insider, November 3, 2021:
The importance of Pakistan as a logistics and transportation hub for supplies into Afghanistan is negligible since the US military is out of the country. Pakistan may still be a valuable counterterrorism partner, but thanks to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Islamabad's leverage over Washington has dwindled.
