With the US presidential elections due next year and the domestic opinion continuing to be hostile to American involvement in Afghanistan, Obama has decided to initiate the drawdown of US troops with clearly defined goalposts. As a bipartisan group of US lawmakers demanding a large scale withdrawal and the Pentagon advising against it, Obama has opted for a middle course. This year there is going to be a withdrawal of 10,000 US troops, while 23,000 will leave next year and most of the rest by 2014 when the Afghan government is expected to take charge of the country’s security. Obama can thus claim he has retrieved the promise made while ordering the surge last year.
Obama has claimed he is starting the drawdown from a position of strength which may not be altogether realistic. One would agree that Al-Qaeda is under more pressure than at any time since 9/11, particularly after the killing of OBL. Obama has given credit to Pakistan also for taking out more than half of the Al-Qaeda leadership jointly with the US. The Taliban and a number of other terrorist groups, however, still remain entrenched in large areas of Afghanistan. Unless they are brought under control, either through talks or military action, peace and security would continue to elude both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Obama has vowed to work with Pakistan to root out extremism and put an end to terrorist sanctuaries. This requires a repairing of ties along with mutual respect between the two countries, as a statement issued by presidency in Islamabad has underlined.
It is necessary for both Pakistan’s establishment and political parties to fully own the war against terrorism and fight it to the finish. Militant sanctuaries have to be urgently dismantled as they are likely to pose even greater threat to Pakistan and the world at large after the US forces leave Afghanistan. The cancer of extremism which has entered important institutions has to be removed through painful surgery. Before outsiders decide to take action against wanted militants inside Pakistan, our own agencies should be able to smoke them out.
