This is a BIG deal and Holbrooke, know to be outspoken, says essentially nothing! Mrs. Clinton, will you speak up? President Obama, is this OK with you? I am flabbergasted that the Obama Administration is saying nothing meaningful while the Taliban is given control of a large area of the country.
"...Speaking in India on the last leg of his trip to Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, the Obama administration’s special envoy to the region, Richard C. Holbrooke, did not address the truce directly but said the turmoil in Swat served as a reminder that the United States, Pakistan and India faced an “enemy which poses direct threats to our leadership, our capitals, and our people.”
Pakistani legal experts and other analysts warned that the decision by the authorities would embolden militants in other parts of the country.
“This means you have surrendered to a handful of extremists,” said Athar Minallah, a leader of a lawyers’ movement that has campaigned for an independent judiciary. “The state is under attack; instead of dealing with them as aggressors, the government has abdicated.”
Shuja Nawaz, the author of “Crossed Swords,” a book on the Pakistani military, said that with the accord, “the government is ceding a great deal of space” to the militants..."
2 comments:
I watched the 60 Minute segment on Pakistan broadcast in past couple weeks and this is an alarming situation indeed! The cited comment from Holbrooke indicates that the Obama administration is not entirely failing to address the problem.
Not knowing a great deal about the problem, I should think that India itself should lead the effort to take a stance here, as the ~100 nuclear bombs in Pakistan... are very close by, just across the border.
Why does the US always have be the leader in these situation? Where's Europe?
I saw part of that broadcast, too. It was very concerning. In this case, the Taliban terrorists are shooting at us just a few miles away in Afghanistan. This decision by Pakistan expands their potential safe haven. Whether this area is in reach or our armed drones is unknown to me.
Probably plenty of blame to go around for this Pakistani failure, but Mrs. Clinton had best get her act together quickly.
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