WASHINGTON: As a US national security team holds key strategic talks in Islamabad, US defence and intelligence officials tell the media that Pakistan and the US seem to have a broad agreement on drone attacks.
Reports carried by major US media outlets, such as The Washington Post, highlighted both points. Christian Science Monitor, however, urged Washington to employ “respect, reconciliation and religious freedom” for defeating Taliban insurgents on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border.
“Victory or defeat in Afghanistan will be determined by how the United States engages Pakistan this year,” the newspaper noted.Other media outlets noted that the US was urging Pakistan to launch a major military operation in North Waziristan as American and Nato forces prepare for their biggest ever offensive in Afghanistan in the southern Helmand province.
The New York Times reported that the “countdown” for the Helmand offensive had already begun.
The offensive, called Operation Moshtarak is President Barack Obama’s first major military push of the war and aims to wrest control of key areas from the Taliban insurgents.
“It will follow the strategy of Gen Stanley A. McChrystal, the commander of American and allied forces in Afghanistan, to ‘clear, hold, build’, which emphasises seizing control of population centres,” the report said.
While these reports emphasised the need for Pakistan to launch a similar offensive in North Waziristan and highlighted Islamabad’s reluctance to do so, The Washington Post reported that the Obama administration had decided to greatly increase the number of drone attacks against suspected militant targets. The report indicated that Pakistan endorsed this policy.
“Pakistan’s cooperation is key to US counter-terrorism efforts because much of the best intelligence still comes from Pakistan’s intelligence agency,” the report said.
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