Afghanistan, not India, will be the priority of Imran Khan until 2019

Even before the elections in Pakistan, the media that articulated the view of the Western establishment, as the Economist, had already described it as "defective election"; he even shouted "unfair play" that the referee "khaki" (read the army) had rigged.

If you find yourself in a mixed metaphor, the "khaki umpire" is, lately, playing the monkey between two cats – the United States and China. With Donald Trump and his Deep State apparently engaged in a wild fight until the end, the balance of benefits must be seen to be with China. But the Chinese themselves keep their fingers on the Sino-Pakistani economic corridor.

Imran Khan expressed reservations about transparency issues. On the other hand, it has been reported that thousands of Pakistani students, who in the past would have headed west, have entered Chinese apprenticeship schools. Who knows, this can be the tip of the hold.

If the Chinese can decolonize the Pakistani spirit to this extent, it must be time for the West to take note of it. But a sketch that sections of the army and Imran Khan might be in

West can be exposed. Yes, Pakistan has other choices than the United States, including Russia, but that does not mean that the army will bite the hand that has nurtured it since its inception.

These are complex times and a lasting phenomenon like "the West" manifests itself in many forms. After all retirees in Pakistan, like retirees from elsewhere, keep a constant eye on the post-retirement sinecures. A huge opportunity attracts retired officers of the Pakistani army to Saudi Arabia.

The new prime minister will be pragmatic. He will not seek to impose a moral code on his armed forces. But he will draw very firm red lines and these red lines will extend from Pakhtunkhwa through Afghanistan, the arena of his political baptism and his purgatory. It's where it can not be seen to be striking agreements. His political territory will turn to ashes if he does.

It should not be seen in traditional Pathan-Punjabi equilibrium. The shock of the return of the Afghan war was borne by the Pathan region, it is true, but it was a national disaster. Let me explain.

Washington twisted Pervez Musharraf's arm to turn against the mujahideen in Afghanistan that Riyadh, Washington, and Islamabad had raised to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. The return of the Afghan war has marked Pakistan. The Lal Masjid fiasco in Islamabad exacerbated an uncontrollable situation. The reverberations of this blowback are not over yet. Remember, the public outcry was against Musharraf fighting "America's war" against terrorism. This was all the more acute as the two brothers controlling Lal Masjid, Ghazi Rashid and Maulana Aziz, led the chorus.

Let me quickly advance on the latest US debacle in Syria and its possible impact on the Af-Pak region. When almost all mercenary Islamists were caught with their pants, the existential question was asked: What to do with trained terrorists?

When animal lovers in Britain ended the traditional fox hunt, the pulse also reached the southern mountain resort of India, Ootacamund. The same question arises: what to do with hundreds of purebred dogs? Common sense was lifted and the dogs were kept in a luxury kennel and then distributed among the dog lovers. But what do coaches do with terrorists, trained and tested in action, who not only tasted the blood but started to like it? Trained terrorists can only have one use: as assets against any Muslim society, the "trainer" wants to destabilize – Afghanistan, Xinxiang, the Caucasus and so on.

I can name at least two recent American presidents to prove my point of view. In an interview with Thomas Friedman in August 2014, President Barack Obama made a startling admission. Asked why he had not ordered air strikes against the Islamic State, Obama said: "This would have relieved Nouri al-Maliki," the Shiite and anti-American Prime Minister of l & # 39; Iraq. In other words, the advance of ISIS from Mosul to Baghdad was facilitated to oust Nouri al-Maliki, a result that the United States looked forward to. Maliki had to be punished for the affront of not signing the status-of-forces agreement with the United States. Finally Maliki was shown at the door.

After being briefed by intelligence agencies, candidate Donald Trump told CNN's Jake Tapper, "Where do you think billions of dollars worth of weapons – and money – have been spent in connection with our involvement in Syria – extremists, of course, I believe it. "He has not moved from this position.

What should worry Imran Khan is the next step: the transfer of trained terrorists from Syria north of Afghanistan. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei told a congregation in Tehran on Jan. 30: "The US transfer of ISIS terrorists to Afghanistan aims to justify the continued presence of the United States in the region" . More recently, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Morgulov Igor Vladimirovich, told a high-level assembly at the Dialogue Raisina in New Delhi: "IS fighters have been transported north of the 39; Afghanistan. Afghan airspace is under the control of the United States and the government in Kabul. "So who is responsible?" Vladimirovich asked.

Islamabad, Beijing and Moscow are all convinced that the Taliban will have to be part of the solution in Afghanistan. The Americans have marked the time with the good Taliban, bad mantra of the Taliban because they clearly have no policy.

The moment is ironic for President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul. The emergence of a Pathan in Islamabad should have comforted him. Instead, he has kittens: the Pathan on the other side has an agenda that is totally inconsistent with that of Ghani. Imran's agenda would increase its popularity in the country where Ghani, alas, has none. The moral is simple: no acolyte to a foreign power has ever been respected at home.