Obama: Trapped By the Taliban

The Washington visit by Karzai and Zardari has made one thing clear: the United States doesn’t have a plan and may even drift into war.

Everything seemed to be running smoothly for Obama during his first 100 days. America’s economy was picking up a bit of strength, houses were again moving in the real estate market, Chrysler and General Motors looked as if they could continue building cars, and American consumers were looking ahead with more confidence. The conservative opposition had its own problems and a Republican senator switched sides. The gods were smiling on Barack Obama.

Then came days 106 and 107 – and with them Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, as well as Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari. The problems are daunting. Endless meetings, large and small, took place because both heads of state came with huge entourages, bringing with them all their ministers from defense to agriculture. Everybody was to have a hand in the new peace strategy.

On Wednesday, President Obama and Secretary Clinton appeared before the cameras, smiling and talking about breakthroughs. What they meant by that, however, they weren’t inclined to explain. If they can’t say what the breakthrough was, then there probably wasn’t one. Later at a dinner with Vice-President Joseph Biden, dining on yellow tomato gazpacho, guests’ appetites were spoiled by the miserable news from Pakistan. The Taliban was still advancing and had taken important objectives, supposedly some near nuclear facilities.

Basically, Washington doesn’t have a clue, despite its new plan. They don’t know whether they can depend on Karzai and Zardari, nor do they know whether Karzai and Zardari even trust each other. One could only shake one’s head at their statements; they live in the same region and share the same problems, but in the final analysis, they have little to do with one another, at least on the diplomatic level.

Clinton wants to change that as quickly as possible; she dreams of bilateral border control, of new trade routes and cooperative sharing of water resources. But she’s at a loss to explain how and when that will take place in the middle of a war. “We need patience, a great deal of patience,” she says. But according to the latest surveys, Americans want to get out of Afghanistan as quickly as possible.

That’s why Obama says the main objective is security and a victory over the terrorists. The Afghan and Pakistani leaders nodded obediently, but at the same time it was evident they had different definitions of what constituted terrorism. Everybody’s against al-Qaeda, but they part ways when it comes to the Taliban. Are the Taliban really bomb throwers and allies of al-Qaeda, or are they insurgents who want a role in making policy for their nation, a group that cannot be suppressed, but must somehow be included?

Pakistan’s President Zardari is not at all happy about the troop surge in Afghanistan. One of his advisors said privately that it would only play into the hands of the Taliban. The outcome might be a more peaceful Afghanistan, at least temporarily, but on the other hand nuclear-armed Pakistan might collapse and sink into chaos. “Where’s the victory in that?”

As Obama entered the White House reception room with his two guests and announced a breakthrough, one got the uncomfortable feeling that America could easily drift into a new war beyond Afghanistan’s borders.