GOOD TALIBAN, BAD TALIBAN!

Good Taliban, Bad Taliban!   That is the new Mantra of the new American administration, trying to come to terms with the mess in Afghanistan, and more importantly, trying to negotiate, undeniably treacherous territory.   And the beaten path beckons, especially, when you are not sure.

Historical Perspective:  And just who are the Good and the Bad Taliban?   You guessed it right!   The Good Taliban are those, that support America and the West, and the Bad Taliban are those that oppose the West, especially, America!

In the 1980’s through the 90’s though, there was no such distinction within the Taliban.   There was only one Taliban, and that was the Good Taliban.   Because, they were fighting the Soviets who had occupied Afghanistan, with American assistance.   Of course, the Americans supported the Taliban for their own strategic interests, and not because they sympathised with them for the wrongful occupation of their country, by the Soviet Union.   Another point to be noted here is, that, the Taliban and the Al Qaeda were jointly fighting the Soviets and receiving military and other aid from the Americans.

The Americans did not mind hobnobbing with the Taliban and indeed the Al Qaeda, oh yes, in their determination to give a bloody nose to the red communists!   Ridding the world of Communism was well worth the price of  sleeping with the Taliban and the Al Qaeda.   And what was the rationale and purpose of eliminating the communists from the world political landscape?   Of course, not democracy, freedom and the like.   The Soviet Union stood in the way of America becoming the only Super Power of the world.   Then came the 911 (some say rigged up) and all that followed.

Emerging Scenario:  Now the Americans are up to their old game again.   Old habits…….!   There is talk of identifying, read dividing, the Taliban, read Afghans, into two distinct groups.   The Good and the Bad.   The good being pro-west, and the bad being anti-west.   A divided Taliban would fit in perfectly well with the Western strategy for the region.   The recent compromise of the Pakistan Government with the Taliban in the Swat Valley would appear to be part of this strategy.

Will the Taliban fall for this bait?   Does the Taliban have an inkling about what the United States and its allies, may have in store for them?   Will the United States succeed in dividing the Taliban?   Looking to the continued violence in the Swat Valley, one would be inclined to believe that America and its ally, Pakistan, are still some way away from befooling the Taliban.   The West seems to favor the same strategy against the Taliban, that they had successfully employed against the Palestine Liberation Organisation.   Remember how the PLO was broken up?   Now there are two groups of Palestinians, one good, that are aligned to the pro-west Mahmoud Abbas, and the other, anti-west aligned to the Hamas of Khaled Meshaal.   Once you divide a community into good and bad parts, it becomes that much easier to go after the ‘bad’ ones, the ‘terrorists’, with the added bonus of not being accountable for your actions.   After all, ‘terrorists’ that kill innocent women and children do not deserve our sympathy, do they?   But the fact remains, that, dividing the Palestinians has not brought peace to the the Middle East, and the expected dividends to Israel.

And so the great game goes on.   Only this time, with the West, especially the sole Super Power, beset, as it is, with crippling economic problems, may not be able to play the great game for much longer.

What could be the game plan of America and Pakistan?   To lull the Taliban into a false sense of security and then to make a ‘final assault’ to wipe them out?   In much the same way as the Israelis went after the Hamas in the Gaza, reportedly preparing for the ‘final assault’ during the six month long ceasefire?

View expressed are author’s personal.