Monday, April 06, 2009

Pakistan... are we too late?

With Obama we finally seem to have a president who understands the risk that a failed state in Pakistan would represent. But after reading this article, I'm worried that Bush may have wasted too much time in Iraq and that it may be too late for Pakistan:

Some analysts here [Islamabad] and in Washington are already putting forward apocalyptic timetables for the country. “We are running out of time to help Pakistan change its present course toward increasing economic and political instability, and even ultimate failure,” said a recent report by a task force of the Atlantic Council that was led by former Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. The report, released in February, gave the Pakistani government 6 to 12 months before things went from bad to dangerous.

A specialist in guerrilla warfare, David Kilcullen, who advised Gen. David H. Petraeus when General Petraeus was the American commander in Iraq, offered a more dire assessment. Pakistan could be facing internal collapse within six months, he said.

General Petraeus, in Congressional testimony last week, called the insurgency one that could “take down” the country, which is home to Qaeda militants and has nuclear arms.

Labels: , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home