U.S. Marines relax at a staging area near Kandahar as they await orders, Dec. 13, 2001.Dave Martin/Pool/Reuters
Analysis: War For Peace? -- Daily Times
Two things are important, not for war, but for securing peace: national reconciliation within Afghanistan by bringing the Taliban into the political process; and promoting a regional approach to settling issues between Afghanistan and Pakistan and between Pakistan and India.
The conflict in Afghanistan is entangled in many ethnic, religious and regional issues, and is the result of three decades of war involving different actors. The only constant has been the suffering of the Afghan people.
There is a hypocritical element to this conflict and those that get sucked into it: everyone involved in the war wants to build peace through war, defeat the adversary and then create a favourable political and security environment.
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My Comment: A must read piece. A view of the region from someone who lives there.