Appeasing or tolerating one radical Muslim group against another will not work because they all hate us. Considering Afghanistan's history, radical Muslim actions, and Pakistan's self-interest, there is no way to win.
While Obama is vigorously working on the next phase of actions in Afghanistan, no one wants to talk about the 800 pound gorilla in the room; all radical Muslims hate all infidels. The latest attacks in Pakistan tell the real story. The New York Times, Oct. 16, 2010 reports:
The umbrella group for the Pakistani Taliban, Tehrik-e-Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attacks in Lahore, the independent television news channel Geo reported on its Web site.
But the style of the attacks also revealed the closer ties between the Taliban and Al Qaeda and what are known as jihadi groups, which operate out of southern Punjab, the country’s largest province, analysts said. The cooperation has made the militant threat to Pakistan more potent and insidious than ever, they said.
The government has tolerated the Punjabi groups, including Jaish-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, for years, and many Pakistanis consider them allies in just causes, including fighting India, the United States and Shiite Muslims. But they have become entwined with the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and have increasingly turned on the state.
So any long term U. S. plans that do not consider this reality is doomed to fail. Trying to defeat Al Qaeda by making peace with Taliban and Jihadis (with help from Pakistan, a Muslim nation) is nothing but wishful thinking. "Divide and rule" does not necessarily work everywhere. Af-Pak is not Iraq, and when push comes to shove Al Qaeda, Taliban, and Jihadis will not only not support any non-Muslim country, but will act to hurt it.
More Al Qaeda members are operating from Pakistan than Afghanistan. Most terrorists accused of plotting serious attacks in USA and UK have been trained in Pakistan, not Afghanistan. We can’t make Afghanistan democratic because Pakistan wouldn’t let it happen. We don’t want to stay there permanently because Americans wouldn’t allow it.
So the rational thing to do is: gradually withdraw ground forces and maintain capability for surgical and overt operations within and/or as close as possible to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Maintain emergency operation plan to control or destroy Pakistan’s nuclear capability in case the country is taken over by any radical Muslim group. Use our resources on homeland security and international anti-terrorists effort.