An Anvil of Clay: Pakistan's Military Balks at Obama's Afghan Surge, Norwegian Peacebuilding Centre, January 2010
EXCERPT: "Pakistan’s cooperation is crucial to the success of the current US and Nato strategy in Afghanistan. Yet the Pakistani military not only has misgivings about the Nato surge but also its own agenda. Central to the discord is the military’s view of the Afghan Taliban as assets to counter rival India’s spreading Afghan footprint. The military views the US surge and the 18-month timeframe as acts of desperation by the Obama administration – as well as a vindication of Pakistan’s strategy of keeping its options open through a 'selective counter-insurgency approach'. Thus, there is little indication that Pakistan is willing to undertake campaigns against militants in the tribal areas. Or play the role of anvil to the US hammer along the Afghan-Pakistani border."
Read the full report.
Related articles:
Military action no solution to combat terrorism: PM, DAWN, 20 January 2010
Taliban commander speaks out [exclusive video interview], Al Jazeera, 19 January 2010
Downhill for Pakistan?, DAWN, 19 January 2010
New wave of warlords bedevils US, The Wall Street Journal, 18 January 2010
Allied countries to play role for effective monitoring of Pak-Afghan border, The Frontier Post, 18 January 2010
Suicide attack reveals threat to Obama's Afghanistan plan, McClatchy Newspapers, 14 January 2010
Related reports:
President Obama’s strategic review of Afghanistan and Pakistan and the consequences for NATO policy, Norwegian Peacebuilding Centre via the Human Security Gateway, 19 November 2009
Related posts:
Assessing Obama's strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 12 January 2010
US coordinating with Pakistan on troop surge, 11 December 2009
Resistance to US Afghan surge continues, 26 November 2009
Why Pakistan won't fight the Afghan Taliban, 20 November 2009
The Pakistan military: Change and continuity, 16 October 2009
