The United States needs a comprehensive plan to promote stability in the region with integrated security, political and economic components. Even then, the United States cannot achieve success and eliminate terrorist sanctuaries in the tribal areas without Pakistani help.
In recent months, tribal militias, or lashkars, have fought back against the Taliban. But the Taliban has killed hundreds of tribal elders in the last four years. The United States needs to discreetly help Pakistan defend traditional forms of tribal governance and the elders who could form the backbone of indigenous resistance to the Taliban. In dealing with the tribal areas, the United States must differentiate its enemies. Some factions want to recreate the hellish Taliban rule of the 1990s. Others may be amenable to a political settlement. …
Finally, India remains Pakistan’s national security obsession. To Islamabad, Afghanistan represents an opportunity to achieve "strategic depth" vis-à- vis India. The United States should support rapprochement and a settlement over Kashmir, while encouraging Pakistan to view its regional security challenges more broadly.
But, even with the right military, economic and political resources, the United States faces an enormous challenge, nation- building in a country of 170 million people. The United States needs a unity of effort in support of the Pakistani government, the Pakistani people and our own national security interests. Access the full article>>