Before easing his machine forward, the Afghan motorcyclist sits back from the throng and nods to a Pakistani border guard. His hand goes into his pocket as the guard raises two fingers. They shake hands and a tight wad of cash is exchanged. As the guard pockets the money, the Afghan throttles up and enters Pakistan in a cloud of dust. Just 30 minutes at the Waish border crossing, in this south-eastern corner of Afghanistan, reveals all of Islamabad and Kabul's hand-wringing about tighter border security as a joke at Washington's expense - there is virtually no border to secure.And now the laughs could be on Canberra too. As Australian troops join the hunt for Taliban and other anti-Kabul forces in the treacherous mountains of Afghanistan's Uruzgan and Zabul provinces, Waish is a frontier funnel through which their enemies come and go with abandon. The farce unfolds under the watchful eye of officials from both countries who sit in a cluster of buildings that fly their respective national flags. Despite a sign that says "only for passport holders", hundreds amble through with no documentation - and without challenge. Heavily laden trucks and utilities, many without numberplates, stream in both directions. None is searched.
Robed men on horseback and dilapidated donkey carts don't even acknowledge the guards. Dozens going both ways wear jet-black turbans, which at the very least indicates they may be Taliban sympathisers. They waltz through as untouchables. In a matter of minutes we witness one green-bereted guard pocket three bribes, prompting a local to volunteer that all of six or eight Pakistani guards on duty this morning are on the take. Shortly after our arrival, the Pakistanis rough up a few travellers. One of the guards angrily kicks three big cartons from the back of a bicycle, but he doesn't bother to look inside them, and a handful are pushed back into Afghanistan.