RIP to all those who lost their lives. May their soul rest in peace.
I guess Pakistan lost an opportunity to work with western powers when we were still present in Afghanistan and trying to stabilise the country and get rid of those radical islamists and make the country more moderate and stable. Both sides(U.S/NATO forces amd Pakistan military on other side) could have basically squash them from both sides if they worked together, but i understand Pakistani establishment also had its reason for habouring and covertly supporting these islamist/radical fighters or turning a blind eye back then. Geopolitics at play I guess. Well, remains to be seen if that was the right decision.
Anyway, Now that Western powers have all left and the Taliban and other radical islamists groups who were hiding in Pakistan and using the country as a base,/refuge to launch attacks on western powers in Afghanistan now took power and are in full control of the country. Guess it will now be difficult for Pakistan to tackle this issue without intervening militarily in Afghanistan where TTP fighters might find refuge/use as a logistics and refuge center to launch attacks and carry on the fight against Pakistanis state. Seems the tables have now turned as well, and the country will be the one at the receiving end like NATO forces suffered in Afghanistan from militants using Pakistanis soil back then.
We can only hope, things won't get too bad for the country, considering the dire/almost bankrupt economic state the country is already in.
Agreed, Pakistan lost a golden opportunity. Infact Pakistani military itself should have invaded and occupied these scums in Afghanistan.
You see most Pakistanis dont have much knowledge of history. The Afghan state policy since 1947 has always been to leverage and provide bases to anti-pak forces. Whether it was pashtun nationalist, baloch nationalist, socialist militias (Murtaza bhutto), and today TTP. Different Afghan govt have come and gone whether the monarchist, communist, taliban, or replublic yet the official policy vis via Pakistan has always remained the same IE leveraging internal conflicts in Pak in order to put pressure on the pakistani govt.
The only time this did not happen was during the 90s when the first taliban came. The reason the first taliban govt was unable to follow this policy was simple... They were to busy fighting the Northern Alliance/other anti taliban groups so they couldnt even focus on Pakistan to begin with. Pak joining the WOT was the final nail in the coffin vis via Pak-Taliban relations.
Simply put since PAK joined the WOT, in the taliban eyes this was the biggest betrayal for them... I mean think about it. Pakistan arrested many taliban leaders, pakistan targetted/arrested their family members, Pakistan govt went after their businesses/homes. Mullah Baradar himself was in a pakistani jail for more than 15 years.... You tell me if you were in Talibans shoes would you ever forget what the Pakistani Govt put you/your family through???
Idiot generals cannot understand simple history/concepts. In all likelihood Pakistani generals NEVER FORSAW TALIBAN SWIFTLY TAKING ALL OF AFGHANISTAN. That is why Pakistan was always pushing for a political settlement where there would have been a power sharing deal between different factions. Reason being in Afghanistans history in such situation these factions would have been focused on outdoing one another and would have never focused on Pak. The first Taliban govt of the 90s only controlled half of Afghanistan.
That equation has all but changed. Today Taliban govt is the first afghan govt in last 40 years that controls almost every province of Afghanistan with an Iron fist including Panjshir. The taliban dont need Pakistan. Pakistan no longer provides economic utility for them, Pakistan no longer provides weapons to them, Afghan economy is better than Pakistan even when under international sanctions, infact 1 afghani=3+ Rupees today. Simply put in there eyes/logic Pakistan is a cakewalk for them and rightfully so...These people have fought the likes of the soviets/US/NATO, in there mind what is bankrupt corrupt Pakistan to them???
Pakistans best interest would have actually been to support the Northern Alliance, a figure Like Abdullah Abdullah would easily have resolved the durand line issue and been pro pak. But internally Pakistan would have faced minority (Pashtun) backlash.... Problem is Afghanistan has always used pashtuns in Pak against its govt whereby Pakistan never used the Farsis in Afghanistan against these pashtuns as it rightfully should have. Our interest aline with the Farsis far more than these ethnic facist pashtun afghans.
Going forward whats done is done. It is history now coulda shoulda woula. Going forward Pak needs to adopt a strict policy of utilizing drones, ISI, Airstrikes, SSG when dealing with the present Taliban govt. There is no other solutions
Lastly the West including US/UK/NATO should fully support Pakistan, including economically+ militarily. If tomorrow Pak falls the Islamic Emirate that would be the biggest geopolitical threat to the West, far bigger threat than Ukraine falling to Israel. Just imagine Taliban armed with the worlds 6th largest military including 200+ nuclear warheads. Your interest in the region would be finished. Worst than that the tens of millions of women in pak today that are able to get an education, work, or go to school will no longer have the same freedom and rights. The West was able to provide Ukraine hundreds of billions of dollars ONLY CUZ YOU SAW THE THREAT AT YOUR DOORSTEPS. You dont see the future threat if Pakistan becomes part of this Islamic Emirate that Pakistan has the technical knowhow today to develop ICBMS with multiple warheads.... So the west should support Pakistan against Afghanistan to the same degree it supports Ukraine. No more ifs and buts or blame games. There is no time left for that or we will all suffer future consequences. Today its Pak but tomorrow it will easily be the WEST.
The reason I am laying all this out to you is because you have had great education being in the UK, talking to these Pakistanis and explaining/pleading to them is like talking to a wall.
