Obama and Afghanistan

Letter December 21, 2012
Obama must live up to the expectation of Peace Prize, that he has to promote peace in the world.

RAWALPINDI: Now that Barack Obama has been re-elected president of the US for another four-year term, will US policies remain the same? This question is on most Pakistani minds. Most of them want America out of this region. They think that their security will improve once the Americans have left Afghanistan. But it is not that simple.

President Obama has already announced that the war in Afghanistan will end soon. The general consensus is a withdrawal of US troops sometime late in 2014. That said, there remains to be any progress with respect to framing the ideal window of opportunity for leaving Afghanistan, at least for the US military. This depends on the Afghan government and the Afghan military’s readiness to take over security duties once Nato and US forces leave. For Pakistanis, the real work might start after the Americans leave, depending upon the extent of India’s clout in Afghanistan.


The US president has his work cut out for him. Not only must he unite America and lead it out of the economic doldrums, but he must also live up to the Nobel Committee’s expectation of him, when it awarded him the Peace Prize, that he has to promote peace in the world.


Omar Aziz


Assistant professor


NUST Business School


Published in The Express Tribune, December 22nd, 2012.