Aghanistan Strategy After Iraq Withdrawl

Amina Kamal Khan, Urdu VOA News, Washington
All eyes are on Afghanistan after the official announcement of US military draw-down in Iraq. President Barack Obama said in his address on Tuesday that the United States will now be able to apply necessary resources to go on the offense against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. According to Vali Nasr, Advisor to the Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, the strategy in Afghanistan cannot succeed without coordinated efforts in Pakistan. To that end, he says, the United States is providing economic assistance to Pakistan and trying to bring Afghanistan and Pakistan closer together diplomatically. Yet some experts in the United States are concerned about reports regarding reported collusions between some Afghan Taliban and elements within Pakistan's bureaucracy despite the Pakistan government's stance against terrorism on its borders. Retd. General Jehangir Keramat refutes these reports saying that the current climate of transparency and coordination between the US, Afghanistan and Pakistan would make any such clandestine interactions extremely unlikely. Michael O Hanlon of the Brookings Institution weights in on the issue as well.

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• Afghan Strategy
• Urdu VOA
• Amina Kamal Khan
• US Afghan Relations
• US in Afghanistan