Posted on 05/06/2009 2:41:06 PM PDT by jazusamo
President Obama affirmed Wednesday the commitment between the U.S., Afghanistan and Pakistan to “disrupt, dismantle and defeat” extremists just as Pakistan was wracked by fresh Taliban violence.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai met with Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and other administration members in a trilateral summit that was hailed as a key step in coordinating efforts against the insurgency fueled by al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Speaking to reporters while flanked by both leaders, Obama stressed the need for more “troops, training and assistance,” and said the trio needed to work together “with a renewed sense of partnership” to challenge extremism with a “positive program of growth and opportunity.”
The key, Obama said, was not simply to fight terrorism together, but to let the people of the region know “we are on the side of their hopes and aspirations.”
But while the leaders were attempting to map out a brighter future, fresh clashes erupted in the Swat district where the Pakistani government had earlier inked a peace deal with the Taliban. Dozens of Taliban fighters and at least two Pakistani soldiers were reported killed Wednesday as militants poured down from mountain hideouts to confront the Pakistani forces.
Pakistani media reported Wednesday afternoon that a major military offensive was likely to begin shortly in Swat, a onetime resort valley where the Pakistani government let Taliban impose Sharia law in exchange for laying down their weapons. The Taliban never disarmed.
A Taliban spokesman told Al-Jazeera that the peace deal had broken down over civilian casualties.
More than 40,000 panicked Pakistanis have fled the violence in Swat, weary from nearly two years of Taliban attacks. Government officials were bracing for the displacement of up to half a million residents in the region should the fighting escalate as expected.
A major offensive against the Taliban, though, would go over well in Washington, where lawmakers are faced with legislation that would grant Pakistan $7.5 billion over five years provided that the country step up its efforts to battle extremists.
Pakistan has been rankled by the notion of benchmarks in recent weeks, particularly by wording in the House version of the legislation that requires Islamabad to end aggression against India. But on Tuesday, Zardari was striking a positive tone on the longtime rivalry between the two nuclear powers.
“We have always wanted peace. We still want peace with India,” the Pakistani president told CNN. “I'm waiting for the elections to be over so all this rhetoric is over and I can start a fresh dialogue with the Indian government.”
In a joint appearance with Karzai and Zardari, Clinton said the trio would talk “about the concrete initiatives to expand economic opportunities and trade, to bolster the agricultural sector as an essential source of revenue and jobs in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, to help build up the industrial sector in Pakistan again so that it is creating more jobs and opportunities for people, and to improve our joint cooperation on security.”
Clinton added that the day had begun with Afghanistan and Pakistan inking a transportation agreement that had been under discussion for 43 years.
Karzai said his country would strive to build “more confidence, more trust, and a working environment in which the two countries together can wage a more effective struggle against the menace of terrorism and the violence that radicalism causes both in Pakistan and in Afghanistan and the danger that they pose to you in America and the rest of the world.”
Zardari took a stab at his predecessor Pervez Musharraf, saying that his administration had “performed better than the dictatorships in the previous many years.”
“My democracy will deliver,” Zardari said. “People of Pakistan stand with the people of the United States and the people of Afghanistan. We stand with our brother Karzai and the people of Afghanistan against this common threat, this menace, which I have called cancer.
“This is a cancer,” he continued. “It needs to be done away with. Pakistan carries a huge burden confronting al-Qaida and Taliban together. But we are up to the challenge because we are the democracy, and democracy is the only cure to this challenge.”
On Thursday, the ranking members on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will host a lunch for Karzai and Zardari.
Ranking Republican Sen. Richard Lugar (Ind.) released a statement Wednesday urging the administration to press Zardari on the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.
“The deteriorating political and security situation in Pakistan has led many to question the potential threat of Pakistani weapons of mass destruction falling into the wrong hands,” Lugar said. “President Obama must use this opportunity to gain clarification on the status and security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, chemical weapons precursors, and pathogen samples. He must convince President Zardari to accept more assistance and embrace cooperation in these critical areas.”
Did he bow again?
Wouldn’t be surprised!
It will be a serious error if Obama doesn’t manage to keep the Taliban from taking over Pakistan. The Taliban armed with nukes would not be a good thing. Also without Pakistan as a staging area for our military efforts in the area- it would be very difficult for us to be able to fight the Taliban.
Agreed, us and other countries cannot allow the Taliban to take control of Pakistan and their nukes. Obama had best not sit on the fence with this, many lives depend on his actions.
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