The Pashtun Concept of Jihad and the U.S. Dilemma in Afghanistan-Pakistan

The problems the US faces in Afghanistan with the Pastun-Tajik conflicts seem more regional in nature than local. Pakistan is in deep conflict with India over ideological, cultural, identity, political, and geographical (Kashmir) issues. Since Pakistan and India have nuclear knives at each other's throats, Pakistan has a vested interest in keeping Afghanistan destabilized. Thus, Pakistan, while happy to take the billions in military aid provided the US each year, is loathe to rein in the Taliban. Losing control of the Pashtun-dominated federal tribal areas in the northwest of Pakistan would be a big problem for Pakistan. It seems that the best long term US strategy is to focus on building peace between India and Pakistan, allowing Pakistanis to determine what kind of democracy, if any, they really want, and then sort out Afghanistan. In the meantime, the US should maintain the least amount of presence necessary for stability and security in Afghanistan. As Afzal Kahn notes, the US should spend time and resources understanding the Pashtun culture and work with that knowledge to bridge peace. Despite these needs, I am afraid that the polarization of US domestic politics will lead to short-sighted quick fix policies rather than long term perspectives over the next 25-50 years. Those policies have in the past, and will in the future, only bring war and violence rather than peace and stability to this region of the world.
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