WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama has said his administration - seeking a viable way forward in conflict-hit Afghanistan - wants an effective partnership with Pakistan that works towards achieving peace and stability in the region, APP reported.
In an interview with the ABC news channel, the US president stressed that the Afghans must share the burden of their own security and made it clear that Washington is not looking at an indefinite stay in Afghanistan.
Separately, Obama also observed at a memorial service for victims of last week's shooting at Fort Hood military base in Texas that the militants who killed 3000 Americans on 9/11 are endangering lives of innocent Pakistanis and Afghans.
Obama said in the interview that as commander-in-chief he has an obligation to make sure that whatever investments Washington makes are leading to a safer United States, that they are sustainable.
‘…that we have a strategy to make sure that Afghans are carrying the burden of their own security, that we have an effective partnership with Pakistan that is working to achieve our goals in the entire region and that we're not working at cross purposes, that issues of corruption are dealt with, that we are identifying not just a national government in Kabul, but provincial government actors that have legitimacy right now,’ he stated.
Obama was listing out some of the considerations that are part of the strategy formulation process as the US national security advisers weigh in on various proposals for a comprehensive counterinsurgency including American commander in Afghanistan Gen Stanley McChrystal's demand for up to 40,000 additional US troops deployment.
‘So, there are a whole host of those questions that we have worked through systematically. I have gained confidence that there's not an important question out there that has not been asked and that we haven't asked — that we haven't answered to the best of our abilities,’ the US president said.
‘And as a consequence of the process that we've gone to, I feel much more confident that when I issue my orders, that not only do we have a better prospect of success and we are serving our men and women in uniform well, but that we are not also looking at an indefinite stay in — where we have bought, essentially, a permanent protectorate of Afghanistan that I think would be unsustainable.’
US-led international forces — numbering around 100,000 are trying to control a fierce Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan while Pakistan is fighting militants on its side of the border considered one of the most difficult terrains in the world.
Hundreds of militants crossed into Pakistan in 2001-02 when the US knocked off the Taliban regime from Kabul in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The Obama administration relies on Pakistan as a key ally with regard to its efforts in the restive Afghan border region.
Pakistan has deployed over 150,000 security forces in the region and is battling the Taliban militants in the South Waziristan tribal region stronghold while facing an unprecedented wave of retaliatory bombings on its cities. .....Link......
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