The elections in Iraq have produced a result that the US had not anticipated. Allawi, a former Prime Minister has emerged as a front runner. In Afghnistan the US and its surrogate Hamid Karzai are openly squabbling and the US has even threatened to "withdraw" the invitation extended to Karzai to visit the White House. I think the only major power that has a policy of "uninviting" a head of state is the USA. Karzai has served US interests well by providing a pashtun face for what is essentially an army of occupation that even the US is now beginning to weary. The failure of the Iraqi elections to throw a clear winner only strengthens the hands of US arch rival for supremacy in the region, Iran. Iranian interests are even being protected by Pakistan the other major US surrogate in the region. The Iranians even managed to divert a plane flying to Dubai carrying the man responsible for carrying out a bombing against a shia leader in Western Pakistan to land in Iranian territory and they arrested the terorist, and ofcourse, no one will ever ask questions. This shows that Iranian secret service is getting as efficient as the MOSSAD which left its fingerprints all over in the botched assasination in Dubhai.
The real test will come only after July 2011 when the US troops wuould have left Iraq. In Afghanistan, the elections that were held were not all that fraudelent as the Wester Media says it was, but the US have suddenly found Abdullah- Abdullah, the defeated candidate very attractive. Forgotten is thae faxct that just over a decade back this man was allied with one of the most ruthless warlords of Afghanistan. The fact that the US policy is personality driven and not driven by self-interest undermines US strategic interests in the region. At this point in time NATO is clearly on the backfoot as far as Afghainstan is concerned. The US and Great Britain and their invasion has not resulted in any major geopolitical gain for the West. The real winner is Iran whioch has emerged the stongest power in the region and all major powers will have to come top terms with the reality of Iranian hegemony.
Nation-building and national interests are two mutually exclusive concepts. Unfortunately the US always mixes up the two. If US wants peace in the region and contain the Taliban and at the same time maintain stability in the region it must throw its weight behind a Pashtun state carved out of the Northwest Frontier Provinces of Pakistan and the Pashtun areas of Afghanistan.
Iran is clearly the dominant political and miltary power and counties like India which clearly are held within the grip of western interests have missed the reality of the situation.