The Pakghani Front

The Wall Street Journal carries an interesting commentary on the need to secure the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan if any progress is to be made in the former country.

A stickier problem for the Afghans and coalition forces is the eastern frontier abutting Pakistan's tribal belt. More boots on the ground there could better patrol the porous, mountainous border. The new and weak government in Pakistan in March struck truces with militants there, mostly Pashtuns and a handful of foreign terrorists. They use this sanctuary for strikes into Afghanistan. On a clear day, American troops can see the training camps on the other side of the frontier.

Afghanistan is a regional problem. As foreign terrorists are flushed from Iraq, many make their way to the al Qaeda and Taliban-run training camps in the Pakistan tribal belt. The blame for this falls squarely at the feet of Pakistan's democratically elected government. For the second time in two years, the Pakistanis have struck ill-considered deals with the terrorists there.

Pakistan has been meddling in Afghani affairs for decades and is not willing to stop now. They have supported the Taliban from the beginning and they really don't seem to have stopped at all, despite their declared position as an ally to the United States. Well, with allies like Pakistan, who needs enemies? With the recent findings by American intelligence services that Pakistani intelligence agencies helped plan the recent bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, I think it's high time Pakistan status as a 'friend' to America and in the world in general should maybe be revised. They aren't helping in Afghanistan(or anywhere else for that matter) and they are very much hindering any progress.