To be sure, Pakistan’s supply routes are a potential choke point for America’s war efforts in Afghanistan. Under the current conditions, Sun Tzu’s claim that “the line between disorder and order lies in logistics” rings true. The Afghan war has become a war of logistics. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts for a military that must supply a seventeen-year-old war. However, while the current scale of U.S. operations in Afghanistan is substantial, it is no longer as staggering as a few years ago when there were over one hundred thousand troops compared to nearly fifteen thousand now. In the end, without finding an alternative to the Pakistani bottleneck, winning the Afghan war can prove more challenging. Chabahar’s easy accessibility has already helped overcome Afghan dependence on Pakistani supply routes. Hence, the United States should seriously explore transit opportunities through Chabahar, which could potentially grant Washington additional leverage in dealing with Pakistan.

Javid Ahmad is a fellow at the Atlantic Council and a nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point. The views expressed here are his own. Follow him on Twitter: @ahmadjavid

​Image: Residents and the media gather near the site of burning tankers, used to carry fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan, which were attacked by unidentified gunmen on the outskirts of Quetta August 22, 2011. About a dozen gunmen in Pakistan's southwestern district of Mastung attacked and set fire to some 18 trucks carrying fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan, government and security officials said. There were no reported casualties. REUTERS/Naseer Ahmed​