NEW DELHI: Starting a war in an Afghanistan driven by radicalism and tribalism may have been the easy part for the United States, say experts who lament that Washington actually has little clue on a viable post-Taliban dispensation.

US President George W Bush’s declaration that Washington is not into “nation-building” is precisely the kind of attitude that led to a decade of civil war and savagery in Afghanistan that followed the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, they say.

“Once the United States left the scene and did not undertake a nation-building effort of the type it conducted so successfully in Europe and Japan after the conclusion of World War II, the Afghans turned upon each other,” writes Shahid Javed Burki, former Pakistan finance minister.

Burki, who once served as vice president of the World Bank, argues that the resources of the US-led coalition that are going to pour into Afghanistan should, this time around, be used “more intelligently”.

Pakistan’s main concern, as President Pervez Musharraf stated at a press conference on Monday, is that any new regime that is going to be set up in Kabul should be friendly to his country.

India is keen that the Northern Alliance of President Burhanuddin Rabbani, which was driven out of Kabul by the Taliban but continues to be recognized by the United Nations, regains power.

Russia, which has continued to maintain squadrons of helicopter gunships at a base in Tajikistan for the use of the Northern Alliance, can be counted on to lean on the United States to ensure that its proteges are not left out a post-Taliban structure.

To the west, Iran supports the Northern Alliance but is partial to the Hazara tribes who are Shias. Iran, which initially showed signs of supporting the US-led coalition against terrorism, withdrew those once it became apparent that Washington depended heavily on Pakistan’s support. Iran has since condemned the air raids on Afghanistan.

Most countries favour an arrangement which accommodates a broad-based, multi-ethnic set-up which takes into account the interests of the majority Pashtuns as well as those of the smaller tribes, the Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras and others.

An Indian foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday that New Delhi favoured the replacement of the Taliban with an arrangement which included “all elements of Afghan society.” Indian Foreign Minister Singh was also quoted as saying the Northern Alliance would play a role after the Taliban.

Similarly, in his press conference, President Musharraf said: “Whatever the dispensation, it must be broad-based, it must be multi-ethnic, taking the demographic composition of Pakistan in view.” —Dawn/InterPress Service.