The United States has the cooperation of Afghanistan, which once harbored Al Qaeda, but has limited ability to maneuver in neighboring Pakistan, where the terrorist group is now based.
President Obama's plan to create a unified U.S. strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan marks his effort to sever his administration's approach from the failures of the past. But administration officials are struggling to identify a clear path around the problem that has undermined U.S. policy in those countries for much of the last seven years: The United States can operate freely in Afghanistan, where Al Qaeda used to be based, but has limited ability to control what happens in neighboring Pakistan, which the terrorist network now calls home.
In Afghanistan, the United States is poised to send an additional 21,000 troops and to train thousands of Afghan soldiers and police officers, while working directly with the government to bring corruption under control.
In Pakistan, however, the U.S. approach hinges on providing an extra $5 billion in aid over the next five years and leaning on Islamabad to take steps against the Islamic militants that it has so far been unwilling, or unable, to carry out.
In some ways, the rollout of the strategy last week marked the beginning of a concerted effort to increase pressure on Pakistan.
Obama described the country's border region as "the most dangerous place in the world," and warned that the United States' patience was wearing thin after Washington provided more than $12 billion in aid to Islamabad over seven years only to see Al Qaeda remain intact.
Pakistan's activities remain a mystery to folks in Washington. That makes it fairly difficult to find legislative language that would address this concern.
Even after the Obama administration's recent high-level discussions with Pakistan over the new strategy, U.S. intelligence officials said Islamabad continued to foster relationships with Islamic militant groups that it helped organize with U.S. support in the 1980s.
No comments:
Post a Comment