SINCE Washington is reviewing its policies towards the Pak-Afghan region, there are a few mistakes that many in Pakistan and the West believe the US shouldn’t have made.

First, when the Mullah Omar-led Taliban were in power in Afghanistan in the late-1990s and the American administration had asked them to hand over Osama bin Laden (OBL) to them for trial for attacking US facilities, Mullah Omar offered to try him in Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia or by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation if the US provided proof of the offences. Washington refused.

According to news channel Al Jazeera, Robert Grenier, the CIA station chief in Pakistan at the time of 9/11, confirmed that such proposals had been made to US officials.

However, either lack of evidence or egoism kept the Americans from accepting this. It is highly likely that had Riyadh tried him, the Al Qaeda supremo may have got life imprisonment, if not capital punishment.

Second, many Western leaders and officials, including Barack Obama, have accepted that the US-led invasion of Iraq was a blunder and ultimately gave bitrth to Daesh. Today, the whole world is wringing its hands.

Third, Pakistan has always maintained that there is no military solution to the Afghan problem, which must be resolved through parleys with the Taliban. However, impediments kept turning up, initially when some hostile Afghan elements chose to reveal that Mullah Omar had already died in 2013.

Later on, the Americans decided to kill the new Taliban leader Mullah Mansour on his way back to Afghanistan from Iran via Pakistan in the latter’s territory instead of in Iran or Afghanistan. This again scuttled Islamabad’s attempt to restart the Quadrilateral talks with the militants.

Now, the acting Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, Tina Kaidanow, has accepted the fact that Pakistan’s help will be essential for bringing the Afghan Taliban to the peace parleys. All concerned must ensure a deal is reached with the latter so that a joint effort can be made to check the Islamic State militant group before it becomes a monster here.

K. Perwaiz
Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2017