WASHINGTON — The U.S. and its allies squandered an opportunity to cement alliances with tribal elders they regard as key to driving Islamic extremists out of havens along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, and now face a long and costly effort to regain influence there, counter-terrorism officials and diplomats say.
The Pashtun maliks, or elders, wield enormous political and social power, especially in Pakistan's largely ungoverned tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. But Washington and its allies in Islamabad and Kabul have not made it a priority to forge alliances with them, despite evidence that Al Qaeda and the Taliban are growing stronger in their territories, these officials say.
Once established, the militants have slain or threatened hundreds of these tribal leaders in a campaign that U.S. officials say has seriously undermined counter-terrorism efforts.
That missed opportunity underscores a fundamental U.S. policy failure: Of the billions of dollars spent, little has gone toward counter-insurgency efforts such as working with tribal leaders to determine how to help their constituents, according to U.S., Pakistani and Afghan officials.
As a result, they say, Al Qaeda and the Taliban are doing a far better job of expanding their insurgency than the United States and its allies are of trying to stop it.
Reversing the damage will require many years of aggressive counter-insurgency efforts, said one senior State Department official involved in South Asia issues.
"It's hard, and an incredible contribution of resources, and you have to do it village by village," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing international sensitivities. "But you have to start somewhere."
Pashtun tribes have ruled large parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan for centuries, largely outside government control. Generally they are not militant Islamists, but under their tribal code they are obliged to provide sanctuary to anyone who requests it, including extremists.
After the U.S.-led forces routed the Taliban in 2001, most surviving militants slipped across the border into Pakistan. U.S. officials pressed Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to forge alliances with tribal leaders, especially when it became apparent that Al Qaeda and the Taliban were gaining strength, said Henry A. Crumpton, who was the State Department's ambassador at-large for counter-terrorism from 2005 to '07, and before that a senior counter-terrorism official with the CIA.
