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Report Outlines Solutions for Pakistan's FATA
By ANTONIE BOESSENKOOL
Published: 8 Jan 12:55 EST (17:55 GMT)
Another terrorist attack like those of Sept. 11, 2001, could have its roots in the lawless Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan, yet the U.S., Pakistan and Afghanistan have erroneously focused on long-term solutions that don't work instead of short-term solutions that engage the local population, according to a report released Jan. 7 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), based in Washington.
The FATA is in northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan, and is believed to be at least a part-time hiding place for Osama bin Laden. Al-Qaida and the Taliban have a strong presence there, and porous borders allow an influx of weapons from all over the world in addition to old Soviet weaponry that's still in working condition, according to the report's principal author, Shuja Nawaz.
The November attacks in Mumbai and the firing this week of Pakistan's national security adviser, after he publicly acknowledged that the last surviving gunman from the attacks appeared to be a Pakistani citizen, have raised the importance of finding a solution to the region's instability, said Arnaud de Borchgrave of CSIS.
Moreover, the FATA is part of a crucial supply route for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Those forces get 70 percent of their supplies, including food and 40 percent of their fuel, through the 1,000-mile route that passes through the FATA, stretching from the port of Karachi through the Khyber Pass, de Borchgrave said. "[It is] now the world's most vulnerable lifeline," he said.
Nawaz said CSIS's recommendations for the area are designed to engage the local population and work in the near- and medium-term to lay the groundwork for longer-term solutions.
"For the U.S. government in the near-term, we are suggesting a definition of an exit strategy for Afghanistan," Nawaz said. "We believe that unless you restore security to the region, unless you provide that security from inside the region, rather than from fortresses ... that are kept apart from the people of FATA, you are not going to be able to gain that traction and get them involved and get the ownership that you require for any project to work in FATA."
The report suggests many detailed steps for the U.S., Pakistan and Afghanistan in the next one to five years.
Among its recommendations for Pakistan are for the Islamabad parliament to agree on the status of the FATA and implement a policy against militancy; end the treatment of the FATA as a buffer zone between Afghanistan and Pakistan; and work to better integrate the FATA's economy into Pakistan's by increasing funding for education, health and infrastructure. Some of the recommendations are aimed at youth in the FATA, such as setting up registration and training centers to ease their emigration into other parts of Pakistan and the Middle East for employment, and regulating the FATA's religious schools - madrassas - so they operate with provincial education boards.
To reduce the number of potential Taliban recruits from the area, the report suggests Afghanistan should coordinate with Pakistan to create infrastructure-based and agricultural employment opportunities in the FATA and increase education development in the neighboring border provinces. Afghanistan's military should set up joint training programs with the Pakistan Army and Air Force, it states.
For the U.S., the report recommended building on the successes of past USAID projects that involve the local population; cutting the use of expensive U.S.-based consultancies in favor of working with local groups on education, health and agriculture projects; and declaring the FATA to be part of the Afghan war theater so the U.S. Central Command can operate with the Pakistan Army in military and economic efforts as needed.
The report also recommends the U.S. define an exit strategy from Afghanistan that would include meeting with the Taliban.
"This would force the Taliban to conclude their operations or risk losing the support of the general population that may favor an end to conflict and the exit of the United States' forces from their country," the report said.
Report Outlines Solutions for Pakistan's FATA - Defense News
By ANTONIE BOESSENKOOL
Published: 8 Jan 12:55 EST (17:55 GMT)
Another terrorist attack like those of Sept. 11, 2001, could have its roots in the lawless Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan, yet the U.S., Pakistan and Afghanistan have erroneously focused on long-term solutions that don't work instead of short-term solutions that engage the local population, according to a report released Jan. 7 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), based in Washington.
The FATA is in northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan, and is believed to be at least a part-time hiding place for Osama bin Laden. Al-Qaida and the Taliban have a strong presence there, and porous borders allow an influx of weapons from all over the world in addition to old Soviet weaponry that's still in working condition, according to the report's principal author, Shuja Nawaz.
The November attacks in Mumbai and the firing this week of Pakistan's national security adviser, after he publicly acknowledged that the last surviving gunman from the attacks appeared to be a Pakistani citizen, have raised the importance of finding a solution to the region's instability, said Arnaud de Borchgrave of CSIS.
Moreover, the FATA is part of a crucial supply route for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Those forces get 70 percent of their supplies, including food and 40 percent of their fuel, through the 1,000-mile route that passes through the FATA, stretching from the port of Karachi through the Khyber Pass, de Borchgrave said. "[It is] now the world's most vulnerable lifeline," he said.
Nawaz said CSIS's recommendations for the area are designed to engage the local population and work in the near- and medium-term to lay the groundwork for longer-term solutions.
"For the U.S. government in the near-term, we are suggesting a definition of an exit strategy for Afghanistan," Nawaz said. "We believe that unless you restore security to the region, unless you provide that security from inside the region, rather than from fortresses ... that are kept apart from the people of FATA, you are not going to be able to gain that traction and get them involved and get the ownership that you require for any project to work in FATA."
The report suggests many detailed steps for the U.S., Pakistan and Afghanistan in the next one to five years.
Among its recommendations for Pakistan are for the Islamabad parliament to agree on the status of the FATA and implement a policy against militancy; end the treatment of the FATA as a buffer zone between Afghanistan and Pakistan; and work to better integrate the FATA's economy into Pakistan's by increasing funding for education, health and infrastructure. Some of the recommendations are aimed at youth in the FATA, such as setting up registration and training centers to ease their emigration into other parts of Pakistan and the Middle East for employment, and regulating the FATA's religious schools - madrassas - so they operate with provincial education boards.
To reduce the number of potential Taliban recruits from the area, the report suggests Afghanistan should coordinate with Pakistan to create infrastructure-based and agricultural employment opportunities in the FATA and increase education development in the neighboring border provinces. Afghanistan's military should set up joint training programs with the Pakistan Army and Air Force, it states.
For the U.S., the report recommended building on the successes of past USAID projects that involve the local population; cutting the use of expensive U.S.-based consultancies in favor of working with local groups on education, health and agriculture projects; and declaring the FATA to be part of the Afghan war theater so the U.S. Central Command can operate with the Pakistan Army in military and economic efforts as needed.
The report also recommends the U.S. define an exit strategy from Afghanistan that would include meeting with the Taliban.
"This would force the Taliban to conclude their operations or risk losing the support of the general population that may favor an end to conflict and the exit of the United States' forces from their country," the report said.
Report Outlines Solutions for Pakistan's FATA - Defense News