Daily Times

US Senator Lindsey Graham is right in saying that Pakistan must be part of a “sustainable solution” to the Afghan conflict, which has by no means come to an end with the departure of occupying forces and return of the Taliban to Kabul. Senator Graham was also all praise, and quite rightly so, for Pakistan’s help in “evacuation of US citizens, our allies, and other nations.” This is a very welcome change of heart, and official position, on the part of senior US lawmakers because for the entire duration of the long and ugly war against terrorism they simply blamed Pakistan, and its intelligence agencies’ alleged links with Afghan insurgents, for all the setbacks that the occupying powers suffered on the ground. Indeed, their gratitude is a far way from the “do more” mantra that dominated the debate during the war.But it is still too little too late. And the reason is that the Americans are no longer relevant to Afghanistan or the region. And US Secretary of State Antony Blinken telephoned foreign ministers of Pakistan, China, Russia, India and Turkey as well as the foreign secretary of Great Britain a few days ago to discuss the developing situation in Afghanistan. And all the countries, which are now working together on the Afghan issue and have played no small role in keeping a lid on things so far, seem to agree with the argument that America is simply irrelevant in the Afghan theatre at this time. And it couldn’t have done worse than suspend aid grants and freeze Afghan assets abroad in response to the Taliban’s irresistible advance because the country’s is desperately starved for money right now and it is the people of Afghanistan more than the Taliban that will suffer from America’s appalling lack of vision and foresight in this matter.If only the Pakistani position had been given more attention and respect earlier, much of all the money that has been poured into this war, and many of the hundreds of thousands of people who have been killed and maimed and millions that have been displaced would have been avoided. Now Afghanistan needs to heal, without which the entire region will struggle to move on, so the number-one priority of all stakeholders must be to limit further chaos and violence by as much as possible. And that, fortunately or unfortunately, is going to run into money. Therefore, by depriving Kabul of its own money in the form of assets stashed abroad, and also cutting its aid at such a sensitive time, the Americans are only making sure that the country continues to suffer; with or without their presence. *