The Taliban were - our hope of change through violence. Whatever the reason for Pakistans geopolitical support and betrayal of them, and whatever their transformations and permutations, that is what they have meant to us.
The question then is, how have we been wrong? Perhaps we cannot acknowledge that we are fighting them because we would then have to own that our dream of a change through violence on which, by the way, Pakistan doesnt have a monopoly has to be resisted. What other form can resistance and change take? That is what the debate has to be about. And that is why political discussions cannot be about politics alone.

BY JAMES GORDON MEEK WASHINGTON — Al Qaeda allies running terror camps for tots on the Afghan-Pakistan border are using video of a boy “martyred†in

While rendering enormous sacrifices, Pakistan's "war against terrorism" has been subject to major shortcomings. Other than deficiencies in the political and military fields, there has also been gross dereliction in failing to pursue practical economic initiatives. The root causes of poverty in the border areas of Pakistan adjoining Afghanistan is unemployment, enduring frustration at lack of opportunities has been used by religious extremists to foment violence in furtherance of their own particular agenda. Because of extenuating circumstances, the tribal fabric had frayed considerably. By failing to reinforce the tribal system we denied the tribals a position of strength

AP KABUL, Afghanistan: As violence in Afghanistan escalates, the US is responding by scrambling to get in more troops. But it's far from clear how the

>p>This weekend Senator Barack Obama visited Afghanistan after calling for an increased troop presence and more equipment there in a New York Times Op-Ed.

WASHINGTON, July 23 (APP): The United States and Pakistan currently have a relatively high point of military relationship despite ups and downs, a noted American defense expert said while also strongly defending U.S security assistance for Islamabad’s conventional balance with India.
“Today, the relationship is a relatively high point,” defense analyst David Smith said, citing close cooperation between the two countries in the post-9/11 period at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank.
r modernization of the Indian armed forces.

By Zeeshan Haider ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Wednesday it would neither allow Islamist militants to plot attacks on its soil nor let foreign troops take military action on its territory.
The declaration by leaders of Pakistan's three-and-a half-month old coalition came amid growing fears that the United States might take unilateral action against al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuaries in tribal areas on the Afghan border.
bed militants' sanctuaries in Pakistan as the biggest threat to Afghan security. Continued...

Barack Obama yesterday conceded that the surge in Iraq has brought "progress." However, the presumptive Democratic nominee has discovered another American losing cause. The situation in Afghanistan, he said in Amman, Jordan, is "deteriorating" and "perilous and urgent."
The junior Senator from Illinois still wants a quick withdrawal from Iraq, despite a contrary view from the military commander there, General David Petraeus. Yet on Afghanistan, Obama turns all militarist. He says he'd send two additional brigades to supplement the 35,000-strong U.S. force. He has previously called for American troops to track down and kill or capture al Qaeda leaders across the border in Pakistan.
out. We have the firepower, they have the time.