As the Obama administration prepares to review the Pak-Afghan policy, there are apprehensions in Islamabad's ruling circles that Washington may abruptly pull out of Afghanistan.
According to well placed sources, the worsening law and order situation in Afghanistan may compel US president Barack Obama to withdraw troops ahead of the scheduled pull-out in 2014.
“This is our biggest nightmare,” remarked a senior military official on condition of anonymity. “If that happens, it will leave a devastating impact on the entire region… and we have conveyed this to the Americans,” he added.
The military establishment and policymakers at the Pakistani foreign office believe the US doesn't know how to take the nine-year-old battle to its logical conclusion.
Sources say although the decision makers in the US administration have made a long-term commitment with the PPP government, the situation on the ground may once again force US to repeat the mistakes of the past.
The Pakistani scepticism stems from the fact that Washington and Islamabad don't share common views on some major issues. “We are not being kept in the loop by the US on the situation in Afghanistan,” disclosed a military official. But this is not Pakistan's only worry.
In the recent US mid-term elections, foreign policy issues, including Afghanistan, were completely out of the map. Although White House insists that the battle against extremism is vital, Americans are raising questions about fighting a war whose end is not foreseeable.
