Friends without benefits

Trying to track the relationships between the major forces in Afghanistan is making my head spin. Consider:

• ISAF is supporting Karzai’s government against the Taliban.
• Karzai wants to negotiate with the Taliban.
• Pakistan is ISAF’s partner (remember the West Point speech?).
• Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is BFF with the Quetta Shura, the Taliban supreme leadership council, headed by Mullah Omar.
• India (like Pakistan) is an ally of ISAF and the Karzai government.
• Part of the reason Pakistan supports the Taliban in Afghanistan is to get cooperation on fighting India.
• Iran, apparently, supports both Karzai and the Taliban.

How did we let ourselves get dragged into this mess?