Interesting - I suggested a while ago, in something of a whimsical mood, that US should fore go attempts to reform Afghanistan, create a secure military zone in the North, attract what serviceable Afghan allies they could to that enclave which I assume would include Kabul, and leave the Pashtun south to the Taliban - with the understanding of course that the US will continue to blow up and shoot to kill anything suspected of involvement with Al queda. Now some Pakistani officer who is receiving training at the US War College has written an article suggesting a strategy very similar to that - saying essentially Afghanistan is ungovernable as a whole so create a northern enclave, save the parts that can be saved and adopt a policy of slowly isolating and wearing the Taliban down until the Pashtuns themselves rise up and fight for better lives - or don't, his point being Afghanistan has always been a tribal mess, highly prone to civil war, and nothing is going to change that until the people themselves are motivated to do so.
Two obvious problems though: it will at first look like a defeat and will certainly be portrayed as one by Islamists; I'm not sure about the logistics of keeping AQ out - that border with Pakistan seems unsecureable and that means killing the bad guys after they've already gained access to the 'outlaw' south - I'm not at all sure how effective that can be - although I would think the US wouldn't have a problem finding lots of young Afghan men, poor young men, willing to make big bucks serving as human assets for covert operations.
