Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee senator John Kerry on Thursday, said that America's war against terrorism in Afghanistan could be lost in Pakistan, if necessary steps are not taken now.
"The war in Afghanistan can actually be lost in Pakistan, because the tribal belt offers a sanctuary for which Taliban insurgents launch cross-border raids, against coalition troops, and against our Afghan allies," Kerry said.
Speaking on the occasion of the release of a report on Pakistan by the Atlantic Council – a think tank – Kerry said the US has concluded that a military strategy alone cannot prevail on either side of this border.
"As this report makes crystal clear, there is no substitute for a comprehensive approach," Kerry said referring to the key findings of the report. Kerry was recently in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
Kerry said the very same people who ordered the 9/11 attack on the US are right next door to the place where America left them. "Pakistan has become ground zero, for the extremist threat that our allies face," he said.
"The consensus among our intelligence agencies is that top al-Qaeda leaders may be plotting their next attack from Pakistan, where the prevalence of religious extremism and nuclear weapons make that country the central crucial front in our struggle to protect America from terrorism," Kerry said.
"Pakistan is under enormous pressure from all sides, from the ferocious insurgency now extending beyond the tribal belt into settled areas, to a financial crisis that threatens to solve into the Pakistani state, with tension, and also with tensions with India," Kerry said.
The counter-insurgency efforts that Pakistan is waging on inside the border with the US help, Kerry said has to address the long-term political, economic, and development challenges, especially with Pakistan's FATA areas and in its North West Frontier Province.
Kerry said in the next few weeks he would be introducing Pakistan Act, which would triple non-military assistance in Pakistan through projects, which will directly support Pakistani people.
It would bring much-needed accountability to US military aid programs, strengthen democratic institutions, promote broader-based economic development and encourage investment in agriculture, education and infrastructure.
"America must lead an international effort in Pakistan from financial collapse," he said, adding that the proposed Kerry-Lugar legislation will provide a necessary foundation, that the international community will have to work together to find long-term regional solutions.
"Future international aid packages should include international verifiable guarantees that the money will be spent on economic development that helps the Pakistani people.
