US won’t abandon Afghanistan and Pakistan again, says Gates

[EagleEyes]

US won’t abandon Afghanistan and Pakistan again, says Gates

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: Afghanistan and Pakistan “can count on us for the long term”, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said.

In an interview with Al Jazeera television, Gates said the US had made a “serious strategic mistake” in turning its focus away from Afghanistan after the Soviet occupation forces were defeated. He said it would not repeat the mistake. “I believe we’ve learned our lesson.”

As US government weighs whether to deploy more US troops to Afghanistan, he said he remained undecided, “There are issues on both sides of [the argument] and, frankly, I haven’t made up my own mind at this point in terms of whether more forces are needed.”

Gates was scheduled to meet US President Barack Obama on Tuesday to briefly discuss the assessment provided last week by the top US commander in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal. Defence officials said he had received comments on the assessment from senior military leaders including Adm Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen David Petraeus, head of the Central Command. Gates acknowledged that the growing number of casualties in Afghanistan have weakened public support for the war. He added, though, that an early withdrawal is out of the question. He said the US military had recognised as early as 2005 that violence was escalating in Afghanistan but was unable to bolster forces there because of troop commitments in Iraq. “As we have drawn down in Iraq, more capability has become available.”

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[ghamai]

to those who think afghan-pak borders shud be fenced 'nd problems 'll end, u 're wrong. it 'll only create more chaos becuz the pathans 'll never let it happen. i also got relatives on other side of the border 'nd same goes for other millions of pathans. 'nd by the way, y dont we fence our borders with india instead? we 're facing danger from india 'nd nwfp. not afghanistan becuz even if afghan tajiks 'nd uzbeks dont like us, atleast they 're far away from our borders

 

[AHMED85]

IT SEEM THAT AMERICA WOULD NOT WON THE WAR OF AFGHANISTAN AND ALSO PAKISTAN.
HE IS BADLY CAUGHT IN THIS WAR AND THIS WAR LAY AMERICA TO SELF DESTRUCTION

 

[WarProfessor]

Yeah, no surprise there. Haven't we all seen that American Bin Laden just made a new press conference?.

 

[Fennecus]

Personally, I think the whole NATO operation in Afghanistan will fall apart sooner or later.

 

[IceCold]

Gates might have to put his foot in his mouth for coming out with statements like these. Canada has also refused to accept the US request of prolonging his troops in afghanistan and will withdraw them by 2011. US alone cant do squat.

 

[Developereo]

Message to America: Please, please abandon us. And make sure the door doesn't hit you on the way out.

 

[muse]

develepero


And leave Pakistan holding the bag again?? You are being emotional, think the thing through. Many Pakistanis think Indian influence in Afghanistan is something that can only go up, can only increase - think again.

Then there are Pakistanis who think the Americans are determined to act against Pakistan - now, the Americans may not be good friends to us, but in their own framework, US should be assisted in it's mission because it's in Pakistan's best interests to have radical ideologies destroyed, for Pakistan to assert it's complete control over areas it it not have such control.

And either way you look at it, Pakistan will need to fashion a new policy towards Afghanistan -- Afghanistan is connected at the hip to Pakistan, just no getting away from that, but it's connected to others as well and ourt policy will have to both take that into account and work it to our interest.

 

[Silent observer]

it is a very interesting position for US in afghanistan.

they can not leave from afghanistan due to the strategic importance and above all if they do then the world will see history repeating itself (super power Russia going out) and it will be a strong blow on the image of the super power s image.

they can not stay because their allies are backing out and US alone in afghanistan once again history will be repeating itself (US in veitnam, conditions of the soldiers etc) and moreover the money involved in this operation without support from allies is going to be tremendous.

so it will be an interesting but difficult decision for the US to make. i think they will try to prolong their stay as long as possible (even if they have o stay their alone). the best option they have is to help one of their ally country to have good roots in afghanistan (i think they are already working on it) and then they can leave that place totally or with may be keep one or two bases there.

regards

 

[Developereo]

develepero


And leave Pakistan holding the bag again?? You are being emotional, think the thing through. Many Pakistanis think Indian influence in Afghanistan is something that can only go up, can only increase - think again.

Then there are Pakistanis who think the Americans are determined to act against Pakistan - now, the Americans may not be good friends to us, but in their own framework, US should be assisted in it's mission because it's in Pakistan's best interests to have radical ideologies destroyed, for Pakistan to assert it's complete control over areas it it not have such control.

And either way you look at it, Pakistan will need to fashion a new policy towards Afghanistan -- Afghanistan is connected at the hip to Pakistan, just no getting away from that, but it's connected to others as well and ourt policy will have to both take that into account and work it to our interest.

OK, I was making a cheap joke and, yes, once the Americans leave then India will take over in Afghanistan. Both Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah are Indian puppets.

Like you said, Pakistan has to formulate a new policy for Afghanistan. The way I see it, Pakistan doesn't want to rock the boat with the Taliban as long as NATO is around. Once NATO leaves we would presumably support the Taliban. That would be the time to shift them towards moderation because, if we don't, they will keep infecting our people across the border. A Wahabi Taliban will also rejuvenate the Iran/India alliance in Afghanistan.

So, yes, we need to reform the Taliban. Question is when? and how?
(I am assuming that we can reform the Taliban because the alternative is just too horrible for Pakistan.)

As an aside, I can't believe how phenomenally stupid the Taliban are. If they cleaned up their act, renounced extremism, and became a purely nationalist, freedom movement, they would suddenly find loads of clandestine support from China and Russia.

 

[muse]

The way I see it, Pakistan doesn't want to rock the boat with the Taliban as long as NATO is around. Once NATO leaves we would presumably support the Taliban.

No sir, that dog won't hunt - Talib are a done deal, you can stick in a fork in that one. Pakistan are decided that they and world are better off without the Talib - if you refer to the "Afghanistan in a new light" thread, you will note that this whole business of good talib/bad talib is over - Mullah Omar, whoever that is, or whatever that is, can retire in Saudi Arabia or he can die.

 

[pak-marine]

ya right and once thy leave in nxt 2 years or so they will say oh we meant wont abondon untill 2011 ! lol