Good going, John Negroponte! The U.S. has sent its strongest message to the new leadership in Pakistan regarding supporting the war against the Taliban and al Qaeda and in my opinion, it is spot on. Here's what the State Department's Negroponte said from the RadioFreeEurope article:
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte emphasized in Washington on May 5 the importance of bringing Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) under government control, as parts of the 27,000 square kilometer region along the Afghan border are controlled by Taliban insurgents and widely believed to host Al-Qaeda militants.
"We also expect Pakistan's civilian and military leadership to be strong partners against violent extremists in Pakistan's frontier areas," Negroponte said. "Pakistan's government recognizes that bringing those areas under control is an urgent priority for Pakistan's own sake. But let me be clear: We will not be satisfied until all the violent extremism emanating from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas is brought under control."
Negroponte called it "unacceptable for extremists to use those areas to plan, train for, or execute attacks against Afghanistan, Pakistan, or the wider world."
I think the new Pakistani government has had it's real first taste of what it is like to negotiate with the Taliban and the tribes linked to Mehsud in the NW Territory - hopefully they have learned and they will see that it is futile. What is especially good about Negroponte's message is that he mentions Afghanistan in it - that, after all, is the key burr in the U.S. saddle right now...this safe haven for Taliban to run to when things get to hot in Afghanistan. The Taliban can leisurely plan attacks, rearm and refuel their efforts while sitting in NW Pakistan and then come back into Afghanistan to attack U.S. and NATO forces. And Negroponte is saying it HAS to stop.
It's my belief that in the next two months, if the Pakistanis do not show a big effort to clean up the NW tribal areas of Taliban and al Qaeda, you will see a barrage of U.S. missile attacks in that area - and I would not be surprised to see U.S. special forces inserted there to take out more key Taliban leaders. I think the U.S. has lost all patience with the Pakistanis.
Pakistan: U.S. Urges Islamabad To Fight Terrorists As Fragile Peace Collapses
The May 6 attack is a setback to the peace efforts of newly elected Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, who has advocated negotiations to end Islamist militancy in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Washington has demanded that Pakistan fulfill its antiterror commitments.Washington is concerned by the new Pakistani government's reported negotiations with the Taliban. Prime Minister Gillani has made negotiations a priority in his attempts to restore peace to the restive border region.
U.S. opposition to the peace talks with insurgents is rooted in bad previous experiences. Pakistan concluded various accords in 2004, 2005, and 2006 with the Taliban in the Waziristan region on the Afghan border. But American, NATO, and Afghan officials blame these agreements for the strengthening of the Taliban and the undermining of peace and security in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Such apprehension perhaps prompted Negroponte to categorically reject any new peace agreements with the militants that might result in strengthening their hold on certain remote regions of the borderlands.
"We want to be supportive of the government of Pakistan's efforts to enhance the standard of living, the level of development of that region," Negroponte said. "We are very supportive of those efforts. In fact, we have a five-year, $150 million-a-year program to support the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. But when it comes to the issue of international terrorism, we don't think that area should be a platform from which attacks can be conducted against other parts of Pakistan. Nor do we think it should be a platform for the conduct of attacks into Afghanistan, across the border. And, of course, we don't want to see the tribal area being used as a platform for plotting and executing international terrorist activity against the West."
Pakistan's new coalition government is advocating a comprehensive approach to militancy in the borderlands that emphasizes reconciliation, development, and social change rather than military operations, as favored by President Pervez Musharraf and his governments in the recent past.
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