Afghan war: Trump’s Pakistan challenge
Sports Page 27
When President Trump accused Pakistan of providing safe havens to terrorist groups during his Monday address on Afghanistan, he shined a spotlight on an issue that has long plagued the United States as it tries to wind down America’s longest war.
Trump’s predecessors also tried to pressure Pakistan into taking a harder line on terrorist g ro u p s. B u t Islamabad’s fears of India’s influence in Afghanistan, coupled with the United States’ need to avoid alienating a major non-NATO ally, have meant that the steps the United States has taken thus far have not yielded significant results.
Whether Trump fares better remains to be seen.
“I would say the rhetoric on Pakistan represents most the significant discontinuity” from the Obama administration’s Afghanistan strategy, said Joshua White, director for South Asian affairs in the Obama administration’s National Security Council. “But at this point Trump’s talk about Afghanistan is merely suggestive. While it may presage tougher policies, it’s not clear yet that the administration has the stomach for undertaking dramatic action with respect to Pakistan.”
The U. S. relationship with Pakistan has seen ups and downs over the course of the 16- year war in Afghanistan, with the tensest moment coming after U.S. special forces killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.
The United States has three main requests for Pakistan, according to White: clearing tribal areas used by the Taliban- affiliated Haqqani network, dele gitimizing www. sundaytimes. lk terrorist groups focused on attacking India and ending so- called “vertical” nuclear proliferation — increasing Pakistan’s own delivery systems and warheads.
Most consequential for the Afghanistan conflict is the failure to clear out the Haqqani network, considered the most lethal insurgent group fighting in Afghanistan.
“The Haqqani network represents the most significant force protection threat to the