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We should remember that the Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.

Ahmed Rashid

There will not be enough soldiers to ensure the security of the country. But will the US still be permitted to kill terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan with un-manned drones? That could worsen the situation in the neighboring states and they could view Afghanistan as a threat.
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Country Ensure Neighbour Security Situation Soldier Terrorist Threat
Pashtun nationalism is reasserting itself. Its political history spans several hundred years.
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Army History Hundred Nationalism Political Several Span Two Year
vThis region harbors enormous potential. Pakistan could become the hub for the energy that is transported from Central Asia to South Asia. That could change the whole region.
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Change Country Energy Harbor Potential Region Transport Whole
Now the United States has to ensure that Afghanistan does not immediately collapse after being left to itself in 2014.
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Being Collapse Country Ensure Immediate Left
I think within a year or so, perhaps, if 9/11 had not happened, in Afghanistan would have been a very broad-based general uprising against the Taliban.
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Happened Political Span Thinking Uprising Within Year
Despite all the dire predictions made in 2001, the Afghans have given the international community, its aid workers and soldiers a large window of opportunity to repair the damage done by 25 years of war.
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Aid Community Country Despite International Opportunity War Worker Year
The Taliban had become deeply unpopular and were actually discarded by the Pashtun population almost as quickly as they were in the north. I don’t see the Taliban coming back in any way.
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Actually Back Coming Country Deeply Discard Population Unpopular Way
There’s a sense of desperation in Afghanistan because of the lack of funding and the fact that the U.S. only has a one-track military strategy. It doesn’t have an economic and political game plan.
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Country Desperation Funding Game Military Sense Track
There was a coming and going of Al Qaeda militants and leaders between Afghanistan and Pakistan for several years.
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Coming Country Going Leader Several
And China is not keen that the U.S. should be so close to its borders over a long period of time. Certainly, if the U.S. is going to be there for a long time, it’s going to exacerbate regional tensions.
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Border Certainly Country Going Long Period Tension Time
You need intelligence and special forces. And, most importantly, you need to resurrect Afghanistan from what is literally the graveyard of countries and transform it into a normal country, which the Afghans want.
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Countries Force Graveyard Importantly Intelligence Need Normal Resurrect Special
America does not hold to the colonial tradition. America came, liberated Afghanistan from the Taliban and al-Qaida, came to an arrangement with Hamid Karzai, wanted to organize elections as soon as possible and then withdraw.
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Allocate Army Bank Company Country Fall Fund Investment Percent Police
The biggest mistake Barack Obama could have made is to change quite a few things in his Afghanistan policy. He increased the number of troops and at the same time set the US withdrawal date to 2014.
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Change Country Few Made Mistake People Policy Quite Thing
The strategy for peace-building in Afghanistan is economic aid, reconstruction, international security forces. On those lines, the U.S. has been extremely slow. And it has even blocked expanding security forces from Kabul to other cities.
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Aid Building Cities Country Economic International Kabul Line Peace Reconstruction Security Strategy
The United States only knows one form of intervention and that is the military one. Everything depends on drawn weapons. We should, however, develop a wider scope of action. And we should learn to be patient.
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Action Know Military One Patient United States
You have a lot of suspicion from the neighbors of Afghanistan about U.S. intentions. Iran is already, to some extent, trying to undermine the U.S. in Afghanistan.
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Already Country Intention Long Neighbour Suspicion

We should remember that the Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.

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We should remember that the Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.

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