Thursday, December 16, 2010

Its ALL about Pakistan - Obama and Afghanistan


Today President Obama announced a review of his Afghan Policy, lets start with the ironic or economic with the truth to be kind ( and that is being kind ), the President stated the following on Afghanistan, “.. I can report that thanks to the extraordinary service of our troops and civilians on the ground, we are on track to achieve our goals. ” From Alexander the Great, to the British Empire to the Soviet invasion of 1979 no one has achieved their goals in Afghanistan, it’s a wild and remote place and that is just the people, the geography of Afghanistan does not help Western Armies, the Soviet didn’t play by the rules and got kicked out in the end, NATO is playing by the rules, lets see how that far that gets the West. But the real point about the statement about Afghanistan is the remarks by President Obama on Pakistan, “ Finally, we will continue to focus on our relationship with Pakistan. Increasingly, the Pakistani government recognizes that terrorist networks in its border regions are a threat to all our countries, especially Pakistan. We’ve welcomed major Pakistani offensives in the tribal regions. We will continue to help strengthen Pakistanis’ capacity to root out terrorists. Nevertheless, progress has not come fast enough. So we will continue to insist to Pakistani leaders that terrorist safe havens within their borders must be dealt with. At the same time, we need to support the economic and political development that is critical to Pakistan’s future. As part of our strategic dialogue with Pakistan, we will work to deepen trust and cooperation. We’ll speed up our investment in civilian institutions and projects that improve the lives of Pakistanis. We’ll intensify our efforts to encourage closer cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan. And, next year, I look forward to an exchange of visits, including my visit to Pakistan, because the United States is committed to an enduring partnership that helps deliver improved security, development, and justice for the Pakistani people. ” At the end of the day a nuclear armed Pakistan falling in to the hands of the Taliban / Al Qaeda would be a disaster for the West, it would make the Afghan War look like a fun period. Thus what ever President Obama says about leaving Afghanistan should be taken with a massive pinch of salt, as long as Pakistan is under threat the US will be in Afghanistan, that simple and serious folks.