Washington vows not to repeat past mistakes
A five-page summary of a review of the Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy issued by the White House said that “components” of the administration’s strategy are working but gains are “fragile and reversible” because of concerns about insurgent safe havens in Pakistan and the challenge of developing independent Afghan security forces.
“Consolidating those gains will require that we make more progress with Pakistan to eliminate sanctuaries”.
The White House does not plan to release the full review.
It reported “significant progress in disrupting and dismantling the Pakistan-based leadership and cadre of al Qaeda over the past year.”
“Pakistan is central to our efforts to defeat al Qaeda and prevent its return to the region. We seek to secure these interests through continued, robust counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency cooperation and a long-term partnership...
“Progress in our relationship with Pakistan over the last year has been substantial, but also uneven. We worked jointly in the last year to disrupt the threat posed by al Qaeda, and Pakistan has made progress against extremist safe havens, taking action in six of seven agencies of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
“These gains came at great cost, as Pakistan has endured thousands of casualties in their military ranks and among their civilian population from terrorist attacks.
“We believe our renewed bilateral partnership is helping promote stability in Pakistan. It clearly communicates US commitment to a long-term relationship that is supportive of Pakistan’s interests, and underscores that we will not disengage from the region as we have in the past.
“In 2011, we must strengthen our dialogue with both Pakistan and Afghanistan on regional stability. Toward that end, Secretary Clinton plans to host foreign ministers from both countries in Washington for another session of the US-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral dialogue in early 2011.”
“And in Afghanistan, the momentum achieved by the Taliban in recent years has been arrested in much of the country and reversed in some key areas, although these gains remain fragile and reversible.”
“While the strategy is showing progress across all three assessed areas of Al-Qaeda, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the challenge remains to make our gains durable and sustainable.”
The document also anticipates that US troops can begin withdrawing and handing over responsibility for security to Afghan forces in some areas of the country in July 2011. AFP with additional input from Reuters, BBC, Washington Post and journal Foreign Policy
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2010.
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