Change of course?

China Hand, who usually writes at the blog China Matters, has a long, must read article at Japan Focus on the new strategies of the various players in the war in Afghanistan.

It looks like, once again, Pakistan is going to be given the short end of the stick. Faced with the current reality, "no energy, no money, no government", Zardari went to China to see if they would help out, but seems to have been turned down. Saudi Arabia would probably help if their guy Sharif was put in a position of power, but the US has vetoed Sharif. Their own war against the Pashtun Taliban seems to be sputtering, and expensive to boot, and India is not only launching moon rockets, they've just finished their road in Afghanistan that bypasses Pakistan and hooks up with a port in Iran.

Petraeus seems to be running with the fact that both presidential candidates want a larger presence in Afghanistan, so he is setting up the new policies that they will be impelled to follow, like it or not. The US now has, to use an old fashioned term, a war lord in charge of Central Asia. Obama will not have the political chops to impose his own policies (think of him trying to replace Petraeus!), so policy for the foreseeable future is going to be set by a general with his own agenda.

The quiet, firm step of the Caesarism to come? You betcha!