WASHINGTON: President Barak Obama on Friday announced a new strategy which seeks to triple US economic aid to Pakistan and promises 4,000 additional troops to train Afghan security forces.
‘Make no mistake: al Qaeda and its extremist allies are a cancer that risks killing Pakistan from within,’ he warned the Pakistani nation. ‘Al Qaeda offers the people of Pakistan nothing but destruction. We stand for something different.’
To his own nation, Mr Obama said: ‘The American people must understand that this (economic support) is a down payment on our own future.’
The measures he announced for Afghanistan will cause a 60 per cent increase in US military expenses in that country from the current expenditure of about $2 billion a month.
This does not include the economic assistance he promised to Afghanistan and the money needed to eradicate poppy production.
Along with the 17,000 additional combat troops authorised last month Mr Obama said he will send at least 4,000 more this fall to serve as trainers and advisers to an Afghan army expected to double in size over the next two years.
The US president also acknowledged that ‘a campaign against extremism will not succeed with bullets or bombs alone’ but promised to provide the tools, training and support the Pakistani military needs to root out the terrorists.
Mr Obama, however, warned that this offer was not unconditional as after years of mixed results, the US did not want to provide a ‘blank check’ any more.
‘Pakistan must demonstrate its commitment to rooting out al Qaeda and the violent extremists within its borders. And we will insist that action be taken – one way or another – when we have intelligence about high-level terrorist targets.’
Flanked by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defence Robert Gates, President Obama outlined salient features of his new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan in a speech broadcast live from the White House.
‘To help Pakistan weather the economic crisis, we must continue to work with the IMF, the World Bank and other international partners,’ he said.
Mr Obama also urged America’s friends and allies to do their part in helping Pakistan rebuild its economy, particularly at the donors conference in Tokyo next month.
He asked the US Congress to pass two bipartisan bills that would not only increase economic assistance to Pakistan but will also deepen America’s involvement with that country.
One of them, moved jointly by Senators John Kerry, a Democrat, and Richard Lugar, a Republican, promises $1.5 billion a year over the next five years.
The other seeks to establish the so-called reconstruction opportunity zones or ROZs along the Pak-Afghan border. Goods produced in these zones can be exported duty free to the United States.
‘(This is) direct support to the Pakistani people – resources that will build schools, roads, and hospitals, and strengthen Pakistan’s democracy,’ said Mr Obama while supporting the Kerry-Lugar bill.
The president noted that the ROZ bill also enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress and was co-sponsored by Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat, Congressman Chris Van Hollen, also a Democrat, and Congressman Peter Hoekstra, a Republican.
The ROZs, he said, will develop the economy of the border region and ‘bring hope to places plagued by violence.’
‘I do not ask for this support lightly. These are challenging times, and resources are stretched,’ said Mr Obama while urging Congress to triple US assistance to Pakistan.
‘But … the security of our two countries is shared. Pakistan’s government must be a stronger partner in destroying these safe-havens, and we must isolate al Qaeda from the Pakistani people,’ he said.
‘The United States has great respect for the Pakistani people. They have a rich history, and have struggled against long odds to sustain their democracy,’ said Mr Obama who visited Pakistan twice as a student and has Pakistani friends in the United States.
‘The people of Pakistan want the same things that we want: an end to terror, access to basic services, the opportunity to live their dreams, and the security that can only come with the rule of law.’
The president said that the single greatest threat to the future of Pakistan and the United States came from al Qaeda and their extremist allies, and that’s why they must stand together in this fight.
‘The terrorists within Pakistan’s borders are not simply enemies of America or Afghanistan – they are a grave and urgent danger to the people of Pakistan,’ he said.
Mr Obama recalled that al Qaeda and other violent extremists had killed several thousand Pakistanis since 9/11, including many Pakistani soldiers and police.
‘They assassinated Benazir Bhutto. They have blown up buildings, derailed foreign investment, and threatened the stability of the state,’ he said.
Mr Obama asked the American people to understand that Pakistan needs their help in going after al Qaeda because it was not a simple task.
‘The tribal regions are vast, rugged, and often ungoverned’ and ‘the government’s ability to destroy these safe-havens is tied to its own strength and security,’ said the US president while explaining why he was providing economic assistance to Pakistan.
Mr Obama also stressed the need to reduce tensions between two nuclear-armed neighbours, India and Pakistan. The two countries, he said, ‘too often teeter on the edge of escalation and confrontation’ and the US must pursue constructive diplomacy with both to lessen these tensions.
Emphasising the need to work with the people of Pakistan, and not just the government, Mr Obama said: ‘To avoid the mistakes of the past, we must make clear that our relationship with Pakistan is grounded in support for Pakistan’s democratic institutions and the Pakistani people.’
He also stressed the need for a long-term engagement with Pakistan, saying that the US needs to demonstrate its commitment ‘through deeds as well as words; a commitment that is enduring, we must stand for lasting opportunity.’
Drawing a link between the situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Mr Obama said that his pledges of economic support to Islamabad were also indispensable to US effort in Afghanistan, which will see no end to violence if insurgents moved freely back and forth across the border.
‘Security demands a new sense of shared responsibility. That is why we will launch a standing, trilateral dialogue among the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan,’ he said.
Mr Obama said that the nations will meet regularly, with Secretary Clinton and Secretary Gates leading the US effort.
‘Together, we must enhance intelligence sharing and military cooperation along the border, while addressing issues of common concern like trade, energy, and economic development,’ he said.
Dawn (Pakistan)
