JALALABAD, Afghanistan — The leaders of one of the largest Pashtun tribes in a stronghold said Wednesday that they had agreed to support the American-backed government, battle insurgents and burn down the home of any Afghan who harbored Taliban guerrillas.

Adam Ferguson for The New York Times

Shinwari tribal elders meeting this week in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, established harsh penalties against Taliban sympathizers.

Shinwari elders united against the Taliban on Wednesday in a pact set in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

Elders from the Shinwari tribe, which represents about 400,000 people in eastern Afghanistan also pledged to send at least one military-age male in each family to the Afghan Army or the police in the event of a Taliban attack.

In exchange for their support, American commanders agreed to channel $1 million in development projects directly to the tribal leaders and bypass the local Afghan government, which is widely seen as corrupt.

“The Taliban have been trying to destroy our tribe, and they are taking money from us, and they are taking our sons to fight,” said Malik Niaz, a Shinwari elder. “If they defy us now, we will defeat them.”

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This is a band aid. We are bandaging one wound to cover up a sucking chest wound that lies across the heart of Afghanistan and Central Asia.

We have not proven to be a friend to all of Afghanistan. We are seen as an occupying force to many Afghans.

With that in mind, I’m not surprised that it takes money and other inducements to obtain the loyalties of these people. Even after World War II, we purchased the loyalties of Europe via the Marshall Plan and other economic programs. There is no free lunch. We aren’t in Afghanistan simply to help the Afghan people. They know that. We know that. Everyone knows that except for brainless Americans who are half illiterate.

The taliban are still supported in the country side. Many Afghans thought that America was going to come in and introduce democratic reforms. We didn’t. We didn’t support democracy or democratic minded leaders. We came in and we supported Warlords and persons who had destroyed Afghanistan for their personal gain and to enhance their personal power.

With that in mind, how could we expect anything except the situation that we have at present. Karzai is beholden to the Warlords.

We pay taliban and warlords to NOT attack our convoys. When we do go into an area, we bring with us “collateral damage.” The Afghans see this. They don’t like it.

We pay off the very people against whom we are supposedly at war. We spent 2002-2008 and on to the present giving monies to Pakistan that we knew were being funneled to the extremists in the FATA and the NWFP. Yet, we continue the same failed policies. We refused to bring Musharaf to heel and instead poured money into his coffers. Even though, we knew that he was essentially hiding the very men for whom we “searched.”

We’ve not done our best. Sometimes, I think we’ve done our worst.

We’re told and it’s preached by locals that we should support our soldiers. Yet, our government engages in activities with persons and groups and strategies that ultimately lead to the deaths of our soldiers.

American leadership is confused and many individuals are confused about Afghanistan and the taliban. We are told that we are looking to make peace with “moderate” taliban. It’s like seeking a moderate serial killer.

The only way to defeat the taliban in my opinion is to go into the FATA and NWFP. That would put us at war with Pakistan. What would Pakistans reaction be to a full scale invasion of the FATA and NWFP.

My opinion is that it’s time to give Karzai an ultimatum.

He’s got 18 months to get his shit together or we are pulling out militarily.

Give the same ultimatum to the Warlords.

Tell them that if they want our support, they must play ball. They must go legit.

Produce a series of milestone. If they meet them, they get so much in return. If they don’t, they get nothing.

We’ve been dancing in circles with these murdering thieves long enough.

I see no strategic advantage to Afghanistan.

The real enemy is sitting in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

We sit in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We are insane.

We’re looking for a Unicorn to solve our problems when the beasts that attack us sit in plain site in Golden Palaces built with Black Gold.