Wall Street Journal (August 31)
In a best case scenario, the withdrawal from Afghanistan “frees the U.S. from a costly distraction and enables us to focus more on China. Let Russia worry about fanatical jihadist warriors and missionaries fanning out across Central Asia…. Let China cope with the double-dealing, back-stabbing, perpetually indigent Pakistani government. Let Iran deal with newly empowered Sunni zealots, uncontrolled opium flows and a stream of refugees pressing on its frontiers.”
Tags: Afghanistan, Best case, China, Costly, Distraction, Iran, Jihadist, Opium, Pakistan, Refugees, Russia, Scenario, U.S., Warriors, Withdrawal, Zealots
Reuters (September 11)
Perhaps without realizing it, Donald Trump is playing a very “dangerous Asian game” His “clear tilt toward India will hardly halt Pakistan’s continued drift toward neighboring China and Russia…. Trump must recognize that getting his way across the subcontinent could bring down a fragile edifice, one that has been propped up by delicate presidential balancing acts since the days of the Truman administration.”
Tags: Asian game, Balancing acts, China, Dangerous, Delicate, Fragile, India, Pakistan, Russia, Tilt, Truman, Trump
Washington Post (October 23)
It’s reassuring to think “that the Islamic State is its own worst enemy, so extreme in doctrine and practice that it will galvanize opposition within the Islamic world.” The “sobering truth” is less comforting. “The Islamic State also has picked up popular support and the allegiance of other militants in countries as far away as Algeria and Pakistan.”
Tags: Algeria, Allegiance, Doctrine, Enemy, Islamic State, Militants, Opposition, Pakistan, Reassuring, Support
New York Times (June 10)
Will the recent attack on the Karachi airport “be the crisis that finally persuades Pakistan’s government and its powerful military to acknowledge the Taliban’s pernicious threat and confront it in a comprehensive way? It should be…. Security is crumbling and the military, the country’s strongest institution, is in danger of losing control.”
Tags: Airport, Attack, Confront, Control, Crisis, Government, Karachi, Pakistan, Security, Taliban, Threat
New York Times (May 15, 2013)
Pakistan’s “election was a welcome repudiation of militants who are trying to overthrow the state.” With nearly 60% voter participation, Pakistan is achieving “a peaceful transition of power in a country where coups have predominated…. Pakistanis deserve credit for their courage, and the military for allowing the election to go ahead and deploying 73,000 troops to keep order.”
LA Times (May 21)
“The world’s war on polio” has been ambitious and has almost succeeded. Less than 100 people were paralyzed by polio, which is now found only in Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. “But there is a looming danger.” In countries where polio is long forgotten, immunity is weak. Unless we wipe polio away from these final three countries, “a renewed outbreak could cripple as many as 1 million people within the decade, many of them children,” according to U.N. epidemiologists.
Washington Post (May 5)
Was it legal for U.S. Special Forces to kill Osama bin Laden? The Post argues both the killing and the raid, which was conducted without Pakistani approval, were legal under the authorization for the use of military force (AUMF). Passed by Congress one week after September 11, AUMF essentially declared war on al-Qaeda and the Taliban, giving the president broad powers to conduct the campaign. “The covert military operation that brought down the most wanted terrorist in the world appears to have been gutsy and well executed. It was also lawful.”
Tags: Congress, Legality, Osama bin Laden, Pakistan, U.S.
