Wednesday, June 6, 2012

NATO's Plans For Withdrawal From Afghanistan Is Raising Concerns In Pakistan

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Afghanistan Withdrawal Fuels Fears In Neighboring Pakistan -- McClatchy News

ISLAMABAD — The impending withdrawal of U.S.-led NATO combat troops from Afghanistan is raising worries next door in Pakistan, where a growing number of experts are warning that the forces’ departure could reinvigorate a domestic insurgency that Pakistan’s military is barely keeping at bay.

As President Barack Obama winds down U.S. involvement in the war, the Pakistani commentators argue that NATO’s withdrawal will embolden Pakistani militants, perhaps creating a territorial vacuum that will enable the militants to set up bases in Afghanistan from which they could launch operations in Pakistan.

Read more ....

Update: Pakistan faces dilemmas over route closure -- Mohommad Ashraf, Gulf News

My Comment: Pakistanis should not be surprised by these developments. They have been an absent and/or obstructionist ally in the war against militant Islam. From hindering efforts to curb Taliban IEDs .... to be implicated in attacks against Afghan civilians .... coupled with the closing of NATO supply lines .... all of these actions and events have only served to isolate Pakistan from the international community. My prediction .... an accommodation and reconciliation will occur .... but probably only after the U.S. presidential election.

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