Catastrophic consequences of walking away from Afghanistan

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Jul 15 (PTI) Any hasty withdrawal of US
troops from Afghanistan could have catastrophic consequences
and active cooperation of Pakistan is a must for
comprehensively defeating al Qaeda and Taliban, America's
point man for the region Richard Holbrooke has said.
"This is my personal view, if we walk away from
Afghanistan, again, as we did 21 years ago, the consequences
will be similarly catastrophic because of the unique strategic
position of Afghanistan and the reaction that it would have in
Pakistan, China, India and the countries to Afghanistan's
west," the Obama Administration's special envoy told the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
He said to achieve success in the war torn country, it
would involve continued American economic and development
assistance.
"This will not be cheap, but it will be a fraction of
the money that is now being authorised and appropriated for
the military campaign. When we will be able to transition to
that is impossible for me or anyone to say, but it won't be on
a single day. It will be a gradual process, and that is what
the review in December and the President's decision making
will focus on," Holbrooke said in response to questions from
Senators.
On Pakistan's role, he said, "We cannot succeed in
Afghanistan without Pakistan's participation."
Holbrooke told Senators that the very fact that he was
appointed as the Special Representative for Pakistan and
Afghanistan, in itself was a reflection of the fact. "The US
government reorganised to reflect the fact that you cannot
succeed in Afghanistan without Pakistan's involvement."
Indicating that Washington was putting pressure on
Islamabad for a larger crackdown in the Waziristan tribal belt
Holbrooke said, "We do not have enough action yet on the
Pakistani side of the border. Here is a perfect example of
why the two countries cannot be disaggregated for purposes of
policy. We got what we wanted on one side of the border, but
we haven't gotten it on the other yet. And Americans are being
killed and wounded because of this."
The American envoy also conceded that western part of
Pakistan is a safe haven for terrorists. "The western part of
Pakistan, the lawless areas, are the epicentre of the issues
that threaten our country. They directly link to the Taliban
but they're in Pakistan," he said responding to concerns from
Senator Jim Webb. (More) PTI