Eight years after the US invasion of Afghanistan, the US still did not found Osama bin Laden. More and more voices are raising against a war that the Americans are not winning. Slowly but surely, the US army is losing where the Soviets with heavy machinery too had failed.

The US is stuck between two countries–Afghanistan and Pakistan–who are benefiting from this endless war. Every year, I have been amazed that, at the approach of the anniversary of 9/11, the Pakistani government claims a “capture” of an important Taliban leader. The whole game is to show to the world that they are working hard to justify the spending of billions of dollars of American tax payer money.

The truth is that the Pakistanis are not doing enough for themselves, and not enough for the US. What will happen if the Americans and NATO forces pull out from the region? The governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan will have to find a way to defend themselves against extremists.  As the Ekonda of Congo say, “A man who hides a thorn in his foot earns a swelling.”