PASHTUNISTAN: A NEW MEMBER OF THE UNITED NATIONS?

• by Hazel Henderson
• Tuesday, June 30, 2009
• Inter Press Service

The Taliban are resurgent in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Afganistan, the Taliban appear to control large areas of the country and are threatening the capital, Kabul. In Pakistan, the army is fighting to dislodge the Taliban from the Swat Valley, Buner and Dir.

Reality dictates that both the US and its NATO allies admit that there is no military way to drive the Taliban from Afghanistan. Most Taliban come from the Pashtun tribal groups of about 45 million people who have always inhabited the mountainous region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. A small percentage of these 45 million tribes people are Taliban extremists. Even fewer of them belong to Al Qaeda.

Since neither Afghanistan nor Pakistan can control these 45 million Pashtuns in their tribal areas, they cannot prevent them from providing safe havens for their Taliban brethren. Neither NATO or US forces have been able to prevent the Taliban's murderous attacks on Afghan schoolgirls.

(*) Hazel Henderson is author of Beyond Globalization, Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy and other books. She co-created with the Calvert Henderson Quality of Life Indicators (www.calvert-Henderson.com)

//NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN CANADA, CZECH REPUBLIC, IRELAND, POLAND, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE UNITED KINGDOM//

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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