Pakistan

New America and Terror Free Tomorrow Study in Washington Times editorial| 'Pakistan's Pendulum Swings'

Communications — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:17:00 -0400

New America in the News:
...Any Pakistani government must reckon with the fact that its countrymen prefer negotiation over military action against al Qaeda, the Taliban and other terrorist militants. In a recent study by Terror Free Tomorrow and the New America Foundation, more than half of Pakistanis said the United States was to blame for violence inside the country today, as compared to only 8 percent blaming al Qaeda. This is a perception gap of enormous proportions, and a similarly epic public-diplomacy failure... LINK

Peter Bergen in Council of Foreign Relations | 'U.S-Pakistan Military Cooperation'

Communications — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:10:00 -0400

New America in the News:
...Yet longtime observers of the delicate partnership say events in 2008—like the June air strike and Pakistan's February elections—have increased tensions and strained the alliance. "One could say it's on a downward trajectory," says Shuja Nawaz, a Pakistani journalist and author of Crossed Swords, a history of the Pakistani military. "However, it's not irreconcilable differences in my view. This is something that can be resolved … bearing in mind the talks should come directly from the U.S. to Pakistan—not publicly, and not by Afghanistan." Peter Bergen, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, says Washington can do more to heal the relationship and increase Pakistan's counterterrorism capabilities...

Pakistan’s Dangerous Turn

Communications — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:15:00 -0400

A New America Event
06/20/2008 - 12:15pm

On June 20th the New America Foundation’s American Strategy Program hosted the release of Terror Free Tomorrow’s groundbreaking new surveys of Pakistani public opinion, presented by Terror Free Tomorrow’s President Ken Ballen. New America scholars Peter Bergen and Nicholas Schmidle then provided expert analysis of the data and the detailed the implications of the report for future American policy toward Pakistan and the war in Afghanistan. American Strategy Program Deputy Director Patrick Doherty moderated the discussion.

Peter Bergen zeroed in on the fact that unlike other countries that have suffered extensive terrorism, Pakistanis have not to date conclusively given up support for terrorist groups. He argued that the Pakistani military does not as yet have a coherent counter insurgency strategy, one that combines military action and negotiation with supervised economic aid for poorer, more extreme regions of Pakistan. He also urged that the United States needs to make a long-term commitment to Afghanistan of more soldiers, and should be frank about this commitment with Afghanis and Pakistanis. This, he said, would ensure that people do not feel that the United States will abandon the region, as it did following the Soviet-Afghan war in 1989.

Nicholas Schmidle continued the discussion of insurgency and resistance to both America and the Pakistani government, focusing in part on domestic politics in Pakistan. He described a Pakistan in a state of confusion, with no clear view of who is in charge. He further described Pakistani support for terrorism as a result of the abstract nature of terrorism in the country; while an overwhelming majority of Pakistanis are opposed to suicide bombing, he said, many support Al Qaeda’s agenda of killing Americans, even though Al Qaeda relies on suicide bombings.

Ultimately, Schmidle said, America can repair its image in Pakistan, but will face difficulty in sustaining any gains made without a sustained American economic and potentially military presence in the country.

The future of Pakistan is of vital importance to the United States, both for its influence on the war in Afghanistan and because it possesses nuclear weapons. The data compiled by Terror Free Tomorrow starkly demonstrates both the dire challenges faced by America, as well as the glimmer of hope that through intelligent, pragmatic and concerted effort, America can recapture support in Pakistan and diminish the importance of Al Qaeda and other extremist groups in the region.

-Andrew Lebovich, Research Intern, American Strategy Program

Steve Coll in the National | 'To bin Laden’s Captors Go the Spoils"

Communications — Wed, 28 May 2008 11:25:00 -0400

New America in the News:

...Steve Coll, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has just published a book titled The Bin Ladens, wrote: “Pakistan’s new democratic government should now be motivated to prove its case. Delivering Bin Laden – which Musharraf’s government so conspicuously failed to do – would be a coup of global proportions for Pakistan’s new civilian leaders, and it would bring considerable political and other rewards to Islamabad.”

He pointed out that most senior al Qa’eda targets arrested or killed in Pakistan have been in urban areas, not the border tribal belt.

“It would demonstrate, in the most dramatic way possible, that a democratic government can be as effective a partner in counter-terrorism as the army, if not more so, and by doing this, it would change debate in Washington and Europe about the costs and benefits of investing in democracy in Pakistan,” he wrote. LINK

Baitullah Mehsud

Ron Tang — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 03:49:00 -0400

For Pakistanis, the Dec. 27 assassination of Benazir Bhutto was the J.F.K. murder and 9/11 rolled into one, plunging the nation into days of mourning and setting off riots across the country. It was a stunning victory for Pakistan's militants, who have increasingly turned their firepower against the state, conducting more than 50 suicide attacks in 2007 alone.

The government quickly fingered Baitullah Mehsud as the mastermind of the Bhutto assassination; he had previously threatened to kill her. The details of Mehsud's biography are sketchy, as he shuns publicity. He is known to be in his mid-30s and to lead thousands… more

Target: Bin Laden

Ron Tang — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 06:36:00 -0400

Osama bin Laden lives among friends, follows news on satellite television or the Internet and reads books about American foreign policy; this much can be safely inferred from his periodic audio and video statements. His latest topical punditry surfaced just a few weeks ago on jihadi websites when he addressed violence in Gaza and the pope's travels.

Because of his passable grasp of current events, Bin Laden may well understand what many Americans do not: that he is more likely to be killed or captured during the next year or so than at any time since late 2001, when he escaped… more

6 Years, 6 Months, 19 Days

Ron Tang — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:04:00 -0400

It's now more than six years since the 9/11 attacks, yet al Qaeda's leader Osama Bin Laden remains at large.

A slew of video and audiotapes, referencing current events and analyzed by the US government, indicate he's still alive. And his recent appearances have silenced most of the rumors about ill health.

The question, then, is should Americans care? After all, Osama doesn't run his terrorist organization as he did before the fall of the Taliban.

Unfortunately, Bin Laden remains all too relevant. Today he doesn't need to pick up a phone to order terror attacks as he did before 9/11; he just… more

Like the Wild, Wild West. Plus Al-Qaeda.

Ron Tang — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 07:34:00 -0400

Darra Adam Khel, a small burg in Pakistan's tribal areas, is the quintessential frontier town. Picture Wyatt Earp sashaying down the streets of Tombstone in a turban, and you begin to get the idea. Because Pakistani laws don't apply here, smugglers, gunsmiths and, most recently, the Taliban find Darra, as it's locally known, an optimal place to do business.

Most stores along the main road sell firearms or drugs. In one, freshly pressed slabs of hashish are cured in goat skins, stacked up like a new line of sweaters at the Gap. Next door, customers can walk in, pull a Kalashnikov… more

Nicholas Schmidle

Operations — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:42:00 -0400

Fellow, American Strategy Program

Nicholas Schmidle writes about the intersection of culture, religion and politics abroad. He has reported from South and Central Asia, and his work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Slate, The New Republic, The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Washington Post and many other publications. He appears on NPR, BBC, ABC, and other news channels to discuss terrorism, Afghan and Pakistani politics, and the Taliban. Mr. Schmidle, a former fellow of the Institute of Current World Affairs, lived in Pakistan in 2006 and 2007. He speaks Urdu and Persian.

As a fellow of the American Strategy Program, Mr. Schmidle will be writing a book about contemporary Pakistan, to be published by Henry… more

Do No Harm

Ron Tang — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

If you don't know what to do, better to do nothing -- and the United States does not really know what to do in Pakistan. Moreover, things there are not nearly as bad as the Western media and some excitable politicians present. The situation is deteriorating, but the country is not yet close to failing. Although it is a flawed state, menaced by terrorists and insurgents, it is still a largely effective one.

By pushing for particular political outcomes, the United States does more harm than good to its own interests -- because, to put it mildly, the United States is… more