July 11th, 2008 by Amanda

“Washington has made a lot of policy mistakes in Pakistan,” suggests a New York Times editorial, which is negatively affecting the security of the Pakistani people in the border region with Afghanistan. The new Pakistani government is apparently not blameless either. Its squabbling, internally infighting leaders “have been dangerously derelict in acknowledging and confronting the threat” that Taliban and Al-Quaeda groups pose to Pakistan’s stability.

Can the US reverse its policy blunders to turn the tide?

Perhaps. Rather than believing that the problem is solely “Washington’s War,” the editorial declares that the US ought to recognize that “both countries have a common and increasingly urgent interest in rolling back the power of Al Qaeda and the Taliban and working together to promote democracy and development in Pakistan.”

Posted in Pakistan, Taliban, US foreign policy, al-Qaeda |