Brigader Asif Haroon Raja: Conflicting Peceptions of Stakeholders

in Afghanistan. Few thousands of fighters under the Taliban leader Mullah Omar and Hizb e Islami leader Gulbadin Hikmatar have been fighting the occupation forces and ANSF for twelve years. The resistance forces consider ANSF and the ruling regime led by Karsai as collaborators, while the latter view the Taliban as extremists and anti democratic. The US punished them for collaborating with Al Qaeda. Failing to defeat the Taliban, the US installed the Karzai regime, and now wants to patch up our differences and enter peace negotiations to end the war, and come to a political settlement. Karzai offered them a share of power, but the Taliban, now having gained an edge over ISAF-ANA, wants to combine forces, including an armistice from Al Qaeda, which includes a US dictated peace plan, including a disarmament proposal from Al Qaeda and adherence of the US drafted constitution and a new democracy. They are resilient fighters, as well as tough negotiators. When the US and its allies failed to impose a military solution, and its sinister plan to pitch the Taliban against Al Qaeda, or to divide the Taliban by sorting them as good and bad Taliban, making them fight against each other also failed, and the morale of ISAF troops began to sink, because of the pronged combat in the battle area, including home sickness, rising battle casualties, suicides and psychiatric problems, while the US economy and its prestige kept sliding downwards, Obama was left with no other option but to take the strategic decision to exit. The US decided to negotiate with the same militants considered bad and irreconcilable, since it wanted peaceful conditions for a smooth transition. Until recently, Pakistan had been pressed by the US to do more to restore peace. Under both sets of circumstances, the US put the blame on Pakistan, claiming that Pakistan was not doing enough. so far, it has not uttered a word of appreciation, that Pakistan's preference for political negotiations over the use of force from the very outset, was correct. Unlike others, Pakistan did not resort to a double game to let down its allies.