Global IssuesPASHTUNISTAN: A NEW MEMBER OF THE UNITED NATIONS?
An outside-the-box approach is needed for the worsening problems of Afghanistan and Pakistan. US official policy in its war in Afghanistan is to combat Al Qaeda and make sure there are no further attacks on the USA from their safe havens. Yet, on his recent visit to the US, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that there are no Al Qaeda members in Afghanistan. General David Petraeus, US Central Command Commander, also stated that no Al Qaeda members are in Afghanistan, writes Hazel Henderson, author of Beyond Globalization, Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy and other books.
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)
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