Friday, February 25, 2011

Afghanistan Partition ‘Plan B’ Only Benefits the Enemy - Nemat Sadat

Robert Blackwill’s “Partition as Plan B” article appearing in the current issue of Foreign Affairs is unconvincing and if implemented would have devastating consequences.

The British wanted to annex Afghanistan and use it as a stepping stone to advance into Central Asia. When the British realized they were at an impasse, they caved in and marked the spikes of the Hindu Kush Mountains as the barrier that would shield their sphere of influence. With Russia and Britain mired in a stalemate and both powers contending against the French in Europe, they figured partition would not work so they agreed on modern Afghanistan serving as a buffer state.

Let’s entertain, for a moment though, the trade-offs if Blackwill’s utopian wish of partitioning Afghanistan were to come true. By withdrawing from southern Afghanistan, the Taliban, already having made inroads into the area for the past several years, despite the presence of western and Afghan security forces, would quickly fill the power vacuum. A de facto partition would also permit Al Qaeda to re-group and take up residence in the terrorist-sanctioned state, just as they did once before. Can you just imagine what a nation governed by radical Islamists on both sides of the Durand Line would look like? .... More -- Afghanistan Partition ‘Plan B’ Only Benefits the Enemy - Nemat Sadat

Plan B in Afghanistan Foreign Affairs - Robert D. Blackwill
Plan B in Afghanistan Foreign Affairs

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