US seeks new Pak, Afghan direction

US president Barack Obama on Friday announced his new AfPak strategy hours after a suicide bomber in Pakistan demolished a mosque. He called the mountainous border region “the most dangerous place in the world”.

“This is not simply an American problem — far from it,” Obama said. “It is, instead, an international security challenge of the highest order. Terrorist attacks in London and Bali were tied to al-Qaeda and its allies in Pakistan, as were attacks in North Africa and the Middle East, in Islamabad and Kabul. If there is a major attack on an Asian, European, or African city, it, too, is likely to have ties to al-
Qaeda’s leadership in Pakistan.”

The president added: “The safety of people around the world is at stake.” to prevent the stalemated Afghan war from destabilising terrorist-ridden South Asia by devoting 4,000 military trainers to
Kabul and significantly more money to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Obama’s overriding goal is to destroy the terrorist havens in Pakistan while trying to beef up Afghanistan’s military and basic security. The new strategy focuses heavily on Pakistan, which the US now sees as critical to determining whether Afghan-
istan stabilises.

As part of his new strategy, Obama plans to ask Congress to give Pakistan at least $1.5bn in economic development aid annually for the next five years.

To qualify for US military aid, Pakistan would have to show it is doing enough to prevent Al-Qaeda and Taliban Islamist fighters from using its territory as a base. The president will work with Congress on language to attach conditions to aid.