Violence in Afghanistan and US Pressure

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is under international pressure that he should form such a government that can monitor the rehabilitation and reconstruction work in his country. On 10 January 2010, the Afghan Parliament disqualified 17 of the 24 members of the Council of Ministers chosen by Karzai, dealing a major jolt to him.
Changing Situation
Notwithstanding it, the appointment of 14 out of 24 ministers was ratified. These included the foreign minister, the defense minister and the internal affairs minister. The names for which the assent of the Parliament was accorded included Karzai's former security advisor and the minister for justice.
Karzai was confident that before the conference of 60 pro-Afghanistan countries held in London on 28 January his council of ministers would come into existence. But he received another jolt when the ministers were being sworn in. The Taliban launched a suicide attack-an extremely devastating strike in Kabul.
The suicide attack was carried out by terrorists on the UN guest house, killing 11 people, including three staff members and four suicide bombers. The strike was carried out by 20 Taliban terrorists. Despite the attack, the oath-taking ceremony of the Karzai cabinet was performed and the situation was brought under control.

Nefarious Designs of Taliban
The Taliban attack was the signal of their nefarious designs. They sent around several signals through the assault. The first message is meant for the newly formed Karzai-led government indicating grim challenges in the days ahead. Even otherwise, so far as Karzai's popularity is concerned, it has registered a huge decline.
The strike has caused a severe disruption to the Karzai plan under which he was due to make an appeal to the Taliban to lay down their arms and extend cooperation to his regime in lieu of a slew of facilities to be offered to the Taliban during February.
The Taliban spokespersons said during the attack that they were vehemently opposed to any move for reconciliation. Hence, the Taliban terrorists and suicide squads launched jointly by them has further spread a wave of terror and insecurity among the Afghan public. The Taliban, generally known for their strikes in rural areas and towns of Afghanistan, carried out devastating assaults in the Afghanistan capital, Kabul, and several cities of the country during the past years.
The latest suicide attack in Kabul bears the stamp of the Pakistani training. It is more or less identical of the attacks launched recently in various cities of Pakistan. It also reflects the modus operandi of the Mumbai 26 November 2008 attack planned in terrorist training camps in Pakistan. Also a Jordanian national acting as a CIA agent had blown up several CIA officials in Afghanistan recently. Later, he joined the Taliban. Blame for this was slapped on the Afghan Taliban. This Jordanian attacker was noticed in the company of Hakimullah Mehsood, the Pakistani Taliban chief, in a video clipping.

The Question
It was clearly evident to the United States that the assaults on the US troops in Afghanistan by the secret agents are being carried out in pursuance of the Pakistan guidelines. The question arises why the United States is not taking action against Pakistan?
It is being commented since long that peace and stability cannot be restored in Afghanistan without tightening the noose on Pakistan. Afghanistan is not in favor of taking the path of terrorism and that in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan India is playing a vital role. Hence, Karzai is an irritant in the eyes of Pakistan, even as the United States is keeping its eyes closed. US envoy Richard Hallbrooke who recently toured India described the internal conditions in Pakistan as satisfactory. This smacks off the double-speak US strategy.

Demand of Situation
It cannot be that while the moves in Afghanistan are sponsored by the Taliban, yet the responsibility for peace and stability in Afghanistan is rested with Karzai. The Taliban pose the biggest challenge to the United States. Nonetheless, it is imperative to find a substitute for Karzai and operation on the Pakistani soil in order to deal with the situation.
Obama is sending additional 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan. Probably, in doing so, it would be possible to rein in the Taliban, even as this complex situation cannot be tackled and resolved through the military might alone. In case, the United States does not bring in pressure for a massive offensive against the Taliban, Al-Qa'ida, etc, then Kabul will be pushed into yet another tragic phase.