The real thrust of US foreign policy towards Aghanistan revealed itself with reports that the US is now 'advocating' the Trans-Afghan TAPI Pipeline instead of the IPI pipeline as part of it's strategy to encircle and destroy the Iranian regime.
The Express Tribune ( aligned with the International Herald Tribune ) reported this today,in an article entitled Wielding Soft Power: US offers to finance TAPI Pipeline
"ISLAMABAD: The US has made a generous offer to finance the multibillion-dollar Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, an implicit gesture to lure Pakistan away from the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline deal....Sources inform The Express Tribune that the Export-Import Bank (EIB) of the United States as well as the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an “independent” US agency, have offered Pakistan financing for TAPI"
What was not mentioned was that this 'soft power' seems to have come at the same time as a harder threat that states that non compliance with this magnanimous offer comes with the prospect of Pakistan being seen as objectively siding with Iran against 'the international community'.
As Dunya News reported that US state department press officer, speaking under conditions of anonymity claimed,
" The proposed Pakistan-Iran pipeline, if built, could raise concerns under the Iran Sanctions Act. We have raised this issue with the Government of Pakistan and are encouraging it to seek alternatives. Transactions such as these weaken international community pressure on Iran to fulfill its international obligations and address concerns about its nuclear activities"
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