Progress in Afghanistan Depends on Progress in Pakistan

23 April 2009

By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Documents & Texts from America.gov

Washington — Progress in suppressing a revived Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan depends on bringing stability and security to Pakistan, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says.

Testifying at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing April 23 (see: Clinton Discusses Wide-Ranging U.S. Diplomatic Agenda), Clinton said the Obama administration is "deeply concerned by the increasing insurgency that is destabilizing Pakistan." There have been a series of meetings with the Pakistani government, civilian and military leaders, and Afghan leaders about the threat posed by the extremist Taliban insurgency that is gaining strong footholds in both countries.

The al-Qaida terrorist group and the Taliban regime, which controlled Afghanistan before being routed by a U.S.-led coalition in late 2001, are believed to be hiding in the federal tribal region of northwestern Pakistan in the Hindu Kush mountain range that straddles eastern and central Afghanistan, northwestern Pakistan and northwestern India.

Clinton said U.S. officials have also worked to convince Pakistani officials that the strongest threat the country faces is not from India, but from the insurgency.

“Changing paradigms and mindsets is not easy,” Clinton said. “But I do believe that there is an increasing awareness, on the part of not just the Pakistani government but Pakistani people, that this insurgency coming closer and closer to major cities does pose such a threat.”

The secretary appeared before a House Appropriations subcommittee that is reviewing a request from President Obama for $7.1 billion in additional funds for the State Department this budget year. In that request, $497 million would be used for State Department support of Pakistan, $980 million for Afghanistan and about $482 million for Iraq.

Obama meets with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Washington May 6–7. He will hold three-way consultations with the two leaders.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in a brief press conference April 23 that the stability and longevity of democratic government in Pakistan is central to the efforts of the coalition in Afghanistan, “and it is also central to our future partnership with the government in Islamabad. We want to support them. We want to be helpful in any way we can. But it is important that they recognize the real threats to their country.”

Clinton testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee April 22 that rising violence across Pakistan and the spread of Taliban influence throughout the northwestern tribal region are raising serious concerns about the nation’s stability. She said the Pakistan government’s decision to permit the Taliban to impose Islamic law in the Swat Valley posed a serious security threat to the world.

“I think that the Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taliban and to the extremists,” Clinton testified. “But look at why this is happening. If you talk to people in Pakistan, especially in the ungoverned territories, which are increasing in number, they don’t believe the state has a judiciary system that works. It’s corrupt. It doesn’t extend its power into the countryside.”

The secretary said political leaders in the Pakistani parliament and even Islamic-based political parties are voicing concern about the decision made by Zardari earlier in April to sign a regulation allowing Islamic law to be imposed in the valley.

The situation in Pakistan “poses a mortal threat to the security and safety of our country and the world,” Clinton said. The Pakistani government and people are becoming aware that what happens in the largely unregulated federal tribal region does pose a security threat to the rest of the country.

“So I believe ... that there is a significant opportunity here for us, working in collaboration with the Pakistani government, to help them get the support they need, to make that mindset change and act more vigorously against this threat,” Clinton said.

“There are no promises. They have to do it.”

The full text of Clinton’s opening remarks is available on America.gov.

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