Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Failing to Become Rational Actors

Over the last ten years, Afghanistan has been hosting international community that has come to help the country get rid of terrorists and hard-line militants. This riddance is in the interests of both Afghanistan and international community led by the United States of America as their security was being threatened by the lunatic fringes from this troubled part of the world. The U.S. was able to kill the mastermind of Al-Qaeda leader and world's most wanted terrorist, Osama Bin Laden on May 02 in Pakistan, close to its capital city of Islamabad, bringing about a huge embarrassment for this country's elites and people alike.

Terrorists have been able to have training camps on Pakistani soil and use it as a platform for organizing their operations inside Afghanistan against the government and international forces. Just on late Thursday, May 26, 2011 eight foreign forces were killed in an improvised explosive device in southern province of Kandahar bordering Pakistan.

Afghan people fall victim to the terrorist attacks almost on a daily basis. Despite the fact that Pakistan has not been able- or has chosen not-to do enough to crack down on the militants on its soil, it has been able to keep convinced the U.S. to continue to pay it billions of dollars in aid. Over the last three weeks after the death of Osama Bin Laden, it is the US officials that have travelled to Pakistan to patch things up with it.

In a latest and highest profile visit since U.S. Navy SEALs killed the Al-Qaeda leader, the U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Chairman of U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen met Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani as well as Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani. Pakistan has been able to show itself as a necessary strategic partner for America. That is why a day before coming to Pakistan, Hillary Clinton said working with Pakistan was a strategic necessity for the United States.

This is because Pakistan's political and military elites have the capacity to act rationally to provide for the strategic interests of their country unlike Afghan authorities and political elites that have failed to use the opportunity to muster international support to put enough pressure on its neighbors to stop helping terrorist activities in their country. In fact, Afghan political elites have always been emotional in their interaction and partnership with international community and have not proved to be rational actors in the region and beyond. It is to be said that it is the weakness of Afghan political elites that provides Pakistan with the opportunity to pursue the ongoing game in the region in favor of its national interests.