After the November 9 US strike in Tirah Valley of FATA it is clear that the US is using aircraft, drones and artillery in ‘hot pursuit operations’ and precision attacks on targets that fit into the ‘preventive force’ category both in Afghanistan and in Pakistan’s western border areas. The US is waging war against Al-Qaeda and their allies the Taliban in Afghanistan. The US considers ‘safe havens’ and supportive structures in ‘ungoverned spaces’ in Pakistan to be legitimate targets beyond Pakistan’s capacity. The use of military force dominates US strategy in Afghanistan much like the ‘search and destroy’ strategy in Viet Nam. 
The Tajik dominated government of Karzai is a US ally and ‘hosts’ US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. It is supportive of US strategy against the Al Qaeda and Taleban but it also targets all Pashtuns and encourages the US to extend operations deeper into Pakistan. Its intelligence wing the NDS (successor of KHAD) teams up with its old Soviet era ally, India’s RAW, to destabilize Pakistan especially NWFP and Baluchistan. India as a US ally is also supportive of US strategy and seeks to enhance its presence and influence in Afghanistan through development aid and projects. This ties in with Afghan government strategy and masks the anti-Pakistan strategy being jointly executed by both. 

Pakistan is fighting the Taliban in its FATA areas. As a US ally it is supportive of US strategy in Afghanistan but does not overtly support US attacks in its territory even though it is aware of the fact that aliens (non Pakistanis) are killed in each strike but with inevitable and unacceptable collateral damage. Pakistan’s strategy distinguishes between Al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban linked to Al Qaeda and the Taliban who are the insurgents in its western border areas. Pakistan’s strategy also takes into account the fact that all Pashtuns are not Taliban and that the Pashtuns are a significant and integral part of Pakistan. Another facet of the situation that is important for Pakistan is the existence of militant extremist organizations that support the Taliban insurgency and the struggle against the US in Afghanistan and by violent acts within Pakistan further the strategy of destabilization. Pakistan’s overall strategy includes the determined use of force (as evident in Bajaur) but it also has a strong ‘hearts and minds’ approach (as evident from its sponsorship of pro Pakistan elements and the lashkars being raised by them against insurgents). Pakistan is conducting stability operations while the US has a destruction oriented strategy. That is why Pakistan considers unilateral US strikes within its borders to be counter productive. Pakistan, however, permits NATO logistics to move through Pakistan. 

The Al Qaeda in Afghanistan is the overarching organization that encourages and directs the global terrorist activity. Victory in Afghanistan would mean a geographic location and center of gravity. The Afghan Taleban are fighting to free their homeland from foreign presence and secure their control over Afghanistan. They accept Al Qaeda presence and support. Thus there is a mutually convenient convergence of international and national objectives. Both need havens outside Afghanistan that are secure against US attacks and therefore they support the insurgency in Pakistan’s western areas. The insurgent Taliban in Pakistan’s FATA in turn support and harbor Afghan Taleban. They all need the chaos and instability within Afghanistan that comes from drugs, weapons, mafias, warlords, corruption, violence and lack of capacity in Afghanistan. And they all support the destabilization of Pakistan from within and without that weakens its response capability. Their war is a long protracted struggle and in spite of internal splits and different objectives there is enough common ground to implement a strategy of attrition and survival. 

In spite of this multiplicity of political and military aims objectives and strategies there are discernible trends that can be exploited. The main shift should be a change in US strategy from its present destruction orientation towards a strategy that aims at stability. This does not mean abandoning the use of military force but rather the judicious use of force calibrated with success in other areas including dialogue. It does mean the hardening of borders between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan, improvement in the bilateral relations between India and Pakistan and Afghanistan and Pakistan, a cooperative effort to build capacity in Afghanistan, a strategy to combat the drug menace in Afghanistan, a proactive US push for effective governance and an end to strategies of destabilization against each other in the region. The political and economic stabilization of Pakistan should be a high priority US goal to move the relationship from its transactional status to a people oriented approach. http://www.spearheadresearch.org