Thursday
Oct012009
Afghanistan And Pakistan Stability Linked, Say Experts
Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 3:49PM
By Meagan Wiseley - University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News Service
In a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday, expert witnesses agreed that the U.S. should neither abandon Afghanistan or substantially increase U.S. military forces in Afghanistan in regard to a stable Pakistan.
Maleeha Lodhi, a former Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S. said, “a precipitous withdrawal would repeat the strategic mistake of the 1990s when the U.S. abandoned Afghanistan to the chaos that nurtured al-Qaida. Nor should the West risk being trapped in a Vietnam style quagmire, a war without end and with no guarantee of success.”
Steve Coll, President of the New America Foundation proposed a strategy that falls between withdrawal and militarization.
“It would make clear that the Taliban will never be permitted to take power by force in Kabul or major cities. It would seek and enforce stability in Afghan population centers, emphasize politics over combat, urban stability over rural patrolling, Afghan solutions over Western ones and it would incorporate Pakistan more directly into creative and persistent diplomatic efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and the region”, said Coll.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Ranking Member Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) introduced the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act, which Congress passed earlier this year, that will triple non-military assistance to Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year for the next five years.
Committee Chairman Kerry noted that “[U.S.] actions in Afghanistan will influence events in Pakistan and we must take that into account. But the ultimate choices about the country’s future will be made by the Pakistanis themselves.”
In a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday, expert witnesses agreed that the U.S. should neither abandon Afghanistan or substantially increase U.S. military forces in Afghanistan in regard to a stable Pakistan.
Maleeha Lodhi, a former Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S. said, “a precipitous withdrawal would repeat the strategic mistake of the 1990s when the U.S. abandoned Afghanistan to the chaos that nurtured al-Qaida. Nor should the West risk being trapped in a Vietnam style quagmire, a war without end and with no guarantee of success.”
Steve Coll, President of the New America Foundation proposed a strategy that falls between withdrawal and militarization.
“It would make clear that the Taliban will never be permitted to take power by force in Kabul or major cities. It would seek and enforce stability in Afghan population centers, emphasize politics over combat, urban stability over rural patrolling, Afghan solutions over Western ones and it would incorporate Pakistan more directly into creative and persistent diplomatic efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and the region”, said Coll.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Ranking Member Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) introduced the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act, which Congress passed earlier this year, that will triple non-military assistance to Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year for the next five years.
Committee Chairman Kerry noted that “[U.S.] actions in Afghanistan will influence events in Pakistan and we must take that into account. But the ultimate choices about the country’s future will be made by the Pakistanis themselves.”
STRONG Plan Could Reduce Oil Dependency By Millions Of Gallons Per Day
Talk Radio News Service
Director of New America Foundation's Energy Initiative Lisa Margonelli recently released a new energy initiative that aims to "reduce US oil demand by more than 3 million barrels a day by 2020."
Secure Transportation Reducing Oil Needs Gradually, or STRONG America 2020, hopes to reduce American dependence on oil without new technology, vehicles or fuels.
"[STRONG America 2020] doesn't use any alternative fuels or alternative vehicles ... we have some perverse incentives built into our system for using energy and for purchasing energy in the US, and it addresses those, and it also encourages energy efficiency," Margonelli told Talk Radio News in an interview.
Margonelli said that Americans do not pay the true price of gasoline at the pumps, but through taxing, which goes toward oil subsidies, military costs of maintaining shipping lanes and health care.
The energy expert told Talk Radio News that she supports the controversial "behavior change legislation."
"It would give people a clear reason and a sense that they can plan and be empowered to actually do something about the amount of gasoline and oil that we use as a country," said Margonelli. She explained that the STRONG tax, which will add three cents per gallon to the cost of gasoline at the pump each year, reaching 30 cents by 2020, could save 450 million barrels of oil each year and raise $5.5 billion for improving the transportation sector.
Margonelli hopes for the improvement of existing transportation options for optimum efficiency, and for increased incentives for carpooling and ride-sharing. She believes that reassigning oil subsidies into secured loans will directly benefit many Americans.
"What we need to do is to move $5 to $10 billion [from oil subsidies] away from the oil industry and make those subsidies into secured loans or loans to middle-income Americans to get more efficient cars," Margonelli said.
According to the New America Foundation executive, the eventual saving of 3 million barrels of oil a day will liberate a great deal of American capital, which can then be recycled into the economy.