Word: qaeda
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...columnist but as President Barack Obama's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, will have to deal with ugly reality on the ground. Faced with a failing Afghanistan, the U.S. needs Pakistan's government and military leadership to work together to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban sanctuaries along the lawless northwestern border between the two countries, crack down on Islamic militants at home and protect the country's nuclear bombs...
...fall of its favored partner, army general Pervez Musharraf, and the assassination of his would-be successor, Benazir Bhutto, with whom the U.S. hoped to work closely. Since Bhutto's death, a weak elected government and a recalcitrant military have failed to check the easy movement of al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in and out of Afghanistan. That has forced the U.S. military to launch targeted missile strikes on Pakistani soil, a policy that has enraged local public opinion...
...flaws, says Riedel, "he gets it: he knows this is as much his war as it is ours." Zardari can't ignore the now routine terrorist strikes within Pakistan; suicide bombers have attacked major cities, killing hundreds. Besides, since Bhutto's death, Zardari is at the top of al-Qaeda's hit list. Because of a sense of self-preservation, or a commitment to responsible leadership, he has promised to crack down on terrorist groups...
...same. There are not many carrots the U.S. can dangle before Kayani to get him to change old habits. But the Biden-Lugar bill does provide some leverage: it requires $1 billion in military aid to be conditional on more effort by the Pakistani military to fight al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and become more accountable and transparent. The U.S. can nudge Kayani along, says Stephen Cohen, another Brookings expert on South Asia, by providing him only with equipment useful for low-intensity conflict rather than with the F-16 jets, useful for conventional warfare, that Pakistan wants...
...Some of their cases are so sensitive that presenting evidence in open court could compromise national security. As details of Bush-era practices on rendition, torture and wiretapping become known, Holder will have to rewrite some of the most secret rules of engagement used by the U.S. against al-Qaeda while balancing Democrats calling for the prosecution of Bush officials who authorized those policies. Though Obama would rather look forward and not back, Holder promised in his confirmation hearings to "follow the evidence, the facts, the law and let that take us where it should...