Forging a New Alliance: Pursuing Peace with the Pathans

By Farhana Ali

The President’s plan for Afghanistan is thoughtful and a considerable departure from the previous administration. But the central question remains unanswered: Who should the United States engage to guarantee long-term stability in the region? We all agree that strengthening the local communities’ capacity to govern and guide their own future is essential. To succeed, the United States will need to identify who it can trust to rebuild the tribal and settled areas.

Several scholars and journalists agree that building tribal coalitions and working with the population is key to helping the Afghan and Pakistani people take control of their communities. Former deputy national security adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan, Meghan O’Sullivan, believes the important lesson from Iraq can help the U.S. achieve its strategic goal in the AFPAK region, as it is called for short. She writes,

“Building the Afghan army and police is vital, but it is a medium-to-long-term project…While many of Iraq’s lessons do not fit Afghanistan (or Pakistan), the centrality of population security is one wroth remembering as the president recommits America to solving the challenges of Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

In an effort to understand the various players, I asked the PakNationalists, a group of professionals disenchanted with the current political squabble in Pakistan as well as U.S. meddling, to comment on whether talking to the Pathans (Pashtuns) is an effective strategy. Earlier today, Ahmed Qureishi, a talk show host and policy analyst in Islamabad, sent me this email:

“Pashtuns are not necessarily the Taliban, nor are the Pathans secular. They are moderately religious-cum-secular. And no matter how secular a Pashtun in FATA or Kandahar is, he will still fight invaders and occupiers. His silence can be bought through bribe. But for how long? You can buy his silence for some time but never his loyalty.”

While no one advocates a relationship based on short-term monetary gains, the Pathan nationalists I know are seeking United States’ support to weaken hard-battled Islamists.

Not surprisingly, many Pathans desire peace and not all are opposed to a dialogue with the West. The Chairperson of a marketing firm in Karachi told me this week that building a partnership with the Pathans is possible when the right people and right tools are used. His approach is relatively simple and safe. He said, “I trained seventy business men from all the agencies of the FATA in May 2008 at a hotel in Karachi. The title of the training was ‘Bringing FATA Business men into Pakistan's main business stream.’ All of the participants said they wanted peace, development, education for women, libraries, information centers, medicine, and job opportunities in their areas.” In reality, the Pathans are no different than most Americans who want the basic necessities of life.

Like the Karachi businessman, the United States needs to engage local Pakistanis capable of providing essential training and resources to the people of the FATA. The cliché of “talking to the Taliban” may be one approach, though it is seen as the current of underlying discord between Pakistan’s elites and the extremists. Dividing the Taliban, who are mostly Pathans, into the “good” and the “bad” creates a false binary that assumes the United States and its partners in the region can conquer one over the other.

What is needed to reform the social and political construct of the tribal region is a nuanced approach that understands the various political allegories of different groups competing for power and prestige. Therefore, a more sound strategy is to involve the Pathans willing to protect their home and honor. A former political agent and senior, well-respected Pathan in Peshawar said to me,

“Tribal leaders are energetic, liberal and not willing to follow the instructions of religious commanders. I would ask the U.S. to directly support the tribal elders rather than give money that ends up in the pockets of the Pakistani military or political elites.”

Engaging the local Pathans will force the United States to rethink how much money and material it is willing to hand over to weak governments in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Investing in local partners, such as the strong-minded and secular-oriented Pathans, may be just what the President needs to restore America’s standing in the region.

Farhana Ali advises the U.S. military and policymakers on Pakistan; she is a former political officer with the U.S. government and a policy analyst with the Rand Corporation.