Word: washingtons
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...international terrorist networks, developing the military's counterinsurgency capabilities, helping to enhance civilian control and building a global consensus on stabilizing the country. The first of what will become regular assessments will be drafted at the end of March 2010. But in the six months between now and then, Washington has a lot of work to do to get Pakistan to measure up to the metrics. Here is how things stand...
...Straddling the Afghan border, this region has long been notorious as a base for al-Qaeda, Taliban and foreign fighters who threaten both Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is from here that Western governments fear that the next 9/11-style attack could emanate unless action is taken. Over the past year, Washington has intensified CIA-operated drone strikes - yielding a flurry of successes. Air strikes may have killed two prominent al-Qaeda commanders over the past fortnight. If confirmed, the deaths would be further blows to the terrorist group. Last month, Baitullah Mehsud, the head of the Pakistani Taliban...
...follow-through has been a problem. Washington has yet to persuade Pakistan's military leadership of the need to take on what remains of the Mehsud network. While it continues to pound the area with air strikes, the Pakistan military is reluctant to mount a ground offensive in South Waziristan, citing the hazardous terrain. And in North Waziristan, Pakistan appears unwilling to confront the Haqqani network and other militants who mount cross-border attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. Instead, it has focused on militants who challenge its own authority in Pakistan. (See pictures of the turmoil...
...most difficult task for Washington will be boosting the weak and unpopular civilian government, especially in its control over the military. Dire economic conditions have improved over the past year through international assistance. An enhanced $11.3 billion International Monetary Fund rescue package has helped dampen inflation overall, but there is public outrage at wheat and sugar shortages. A further $5.5 billion is on the way through pledges made by the Friends of Democratic Pakistan, a consortium of allies, which will meet in New York next week with Obama, President Asif Ali Zardari and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in attendance...
...attempt to bring the ISI firmly under civilian control swiftly backfired last year, while army pressure earlier this year was behind the sacking of the national security adviser and crucial to the reinstatement of the deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan's Supreme Court. More troubling for Washington is that Zardari's approval ratings have plummeted over the past year, to just 32%, according to the most charitable poll, matching President Pervez Musharraf's levels in his final months. "The general view is that the government is not batting for the country," says Aasiya Riaz, a political analyst...