US favours N Waziristan operation: envoy

A US diplomat has said it loud and clear: Washington wants Islamabad to launch a military offensive against Taliban insurgents in North Waziristan, which, the US believes, is being used as their base for launching attacks on US-led coalition troops fighting a bloody insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan.

“However, it’s for Pakistani commanders to decide the timing of such an operation,” US Consul-General in Peshawar Candace Putnam told journalists in the provincial capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday. “How can we tell Pakistani commanders to do what and where … But the Haqqani network is mounting attacks on US forces in Afghanistan from their bases in North Waziristan; therefore, we think an operation is necessary in the region,” she said.

Pakistani troops are currently fighting Taliban militants in South Waziristan.
Last month, US President Barack Obama sacked General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US-led Nato forces in Afghanistan and assigned the job to General David Petraeus, leading to speculation about the fate of the US mission.

However, Putnam said there was no change in the US policy towards Afghanistan.  She said the coalition troops would not pull out of the war-ravaged country without eliminating al-Qaeda and its allies.  “Additional troops have arrived in Afghanistan which means the Americans are not leaving and that the war is not over yet,” she added.
However, Putnam said that the US supported Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s reconciliation efforts aimed to win over the support of “reconcilable” Taliban. There have been reports that President Karzai recently met with senior Taliban leaders as part of reconciliation plan. However, his spokesperson immediately denied these reports.

She also voiced concerns over growing attacks on container trucks carrying supplies for Nato forces in Afghanistan.

Putnam praised the Pakistan military’s operations against Taliban militants in Swat district. She said the Obama administration would initiate more development programmes in Malakand division.

She said the US has already started reconstruction of 108 destroyed schools, 30 basic health units and six water schemes with an estimated cost of US $38 million. She added that the projects were being carried out through the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government and nongovernmental organisations.

About transparency in US aid, she said 100 per cent transparency was not possible. However, she added that efforts were being made to improve monitoring of aid and its utilisation.

She dismissed speculation about the fate of reconstruction opportunity zones (ROZs) project, saying that although it was delayed, the US Congress would soon start legislation on it.

Putnam, who has completed her three-year stint in Pakistan, said that she had witnessed too many changes in this country during her stay. “Democracy, civil society and media are going from strength to strength and the Pakistani nation is fighting back against terrorists,” she added.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2010.