Afghanistan needs and wants US
Sunday, December 13, 2009 at 11:01PM POST: Interview With Ahmed Rashid: Afghanistan Needs (And Wants) U.S. Long-Term Commitment, By Michael Hughes, Huffington Post, November 25, 2009
Great interview with the always insightful Rashid.
Key bit:
The Taliban are not only an Afghan phenomenon they are a regional phenomenon. You have Taliban in Pakistan, Afghanistan and in other parts of Central Asia - they are a major security problem in the region. Any U.S. withdrawal will lead to a very quick Taliban conquest, certainly in Southern Afghanistan and probably Kabul - and the government will most likely fall. And that would have severe implications in Pakistan and across Central Asia.
I have no doubt that there are close ties between al-Qaeda's leadership and the Taliban leadership. So, the argument that Afghanistan is not of strategic interest to the U.S. is absurd. Although there is no oil or other major resources in Afghanistan, I don't think the U.S. can tolerate a world where two or three countries in the center of Asia are ruled by extremists.
When somebody as critical as Rashid has been of U.S. efforts in the region says that Afghanistan needs and wants a long-term U.S. commitment, you pay attention.
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