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Analysts want US policy shift on Pakistan
* Say US should broaden ties with Pakistan to include civil society, court system and police
Daily Times Monitor
LAHORE: In light of increasing instability in Pakistan and the apparent decline of President Pervez Musharrafs influence, American analysts say the United States needs to broaden its approach toward Pakistan to include aid not just to its army, but to civil society organisations, political parties, the court system and police, a Eurasia Insight report said. Such a policy shift by Washington could help produce a Pakistani government with a greater ability to fight extremists, it said. At a hearing of a subcommittee of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, titled US-Pakistan relations: Assassination, Instability and the Future of US Policy, Rand Corporation analyst Christine Fair said President Musharraf lacked the political legitimacy required to fight insurgents. It is increasingly clear that holding fair and transparent elections provides the best chance for stabilising the country, said Lisa Curtis, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation. Pentagon, the report said, was assessing changes in training and assistance to the Pakistan Army in light of a recent uptick in violence in FATA. FATA ... continues to be of grave concern to us, both in the near term and the long term, said Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Pakistan, he told Eurasia Insight, was a sovereign country and President Musharraf had to address the problem directly. Is it a threat that the [Pakistanis] are ready to handle? Do they need help? Do they need training help? Do they need other types of help? Thats what were trying to assess right now, said General James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Despite temptations to cut military aid to Pakistan, analysts warned that doing so would run the risk of making Washington look like a fickle ally, the report said. Ashley Tellis, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said, They are in a transition where you have a new chief of army staff, who by all accounts is a professional military officer, very sympathetic to advancing US counterterrorism objectives. I would prefer to see the United States give him a chance. What is clear is that before Pakistan devolves any further into chaos and violence, US policy has to change. It is obvious that the administrations reliance on President Musharraf to bring democracy to Pakistan while fighting against the extremists has not worked, said Representative Gary Ackerman, a Democrat from New York. The report said only one person, Rep Dan Burton of Indiana, suggested that Washington ought to stick it out with Musharraf. Right now President Musharraf is the only game in town and we ought to be supporting him, Burton said. Musharraf is a declining asset, Christine Fair countered. We need a real Plan B.
Courtesy Daily Times
* Say US should broaden ties with Pakistan to include civil society, court system and police
Daily Times Monitor
LAHORE: In light of increasing instability in Pakistan and the apparent decline of President Pervez Musharrafs influence, American analysts say the United States needs to broaden its approach toward Pakistan to include aid not just to its army, but to civil society organisations, political parties, the court system and police, a Eurasia Insight report said. Such a policy shift by Washington could help produce a Pakistani government with a greater ability to fight extremists, it said. At a hearing of a subcommittee of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, titled US-Pakistan relations: Assassination, Instability and the Future of US Policy, Rand Corporation analyst Christine Fair said President Musharraf lacked the political legitimacy required to fight insurgents. It is increasingly clear that holding fair and transparent elections provides the best chance for stabilising the country, said Lisa Curtis, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation. Pentagon, the report said, was assessing changes in training and assistance to the Pakistan Army in light of a recent uptick in violence in FATA. FATA ... continues to be of grave concern to us, both in the near term and the long term, said Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Pakistan, he told Eurasia Insight, was a sovereign country and President Musharraf had to address the problem directly. Is it a threat that the [Pakistanis] are ready to handle? Do they need help? Do they need training help? Do they need other types of help? Thats what were trying to assess right now, said General James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Despite temptations to cut military aid to Pakistan, analysts warned that doing so would run the risk of making Washington look like a fickle ally, the report said. Ashley Tellis, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said, They are in a transition where you have a new chief of army staff, who by all accounts is a professional military officer, very sympathetic to advancing US counterterrorism objectives. I would prefer to see the United States give him a chance. What is clear is that before Pakistan devolves any further into chaos and violence, US policy has to change. It is obvious that the administrations reliance on President Musharraf to bring democracy to Pakistan while fighting against the extremists has not worked, said Representative Gary Ackerman, a Democrat from New York. The report said only one person, Rep Dan Burton of Indiana, suggested that Washington ought to stick it out with Musharraf. Right now President Musharraf is the only game in town and we ought to be supporting him, Burton said. Musharraf is a declining asset, Christine Fair countered. We need a real Plan B.
Courtesy Daily Times
