Bond “cautiously optimistic” over Obama approach to Pakistan

by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio New Service

This morning at a discussion on issues related to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Senator Christopher “Kit” Bond (R-MO) broke away from his Republican colleagues by praising one of President Barack Obama’s policies.

The plan that was unveiled last Friday would increase U.S. support in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Bond says the only way to address the long-term threat of terrorism in the region is to take a “smart power-counter insurgency approach.”

Recent attacks in Pakistan “underscore that the threats emanating from the region are one of the greatest national security threats and challenges of our time,” Bond said.

“The reason my optimism is guarded is because the President has split the baby between two competing camps in Washington and I believe in the White House today. The first camp focuses strictly on counter terrorism, or CT, and the second which takes a counter insurgency or coin strategy approach,” Bond said.

“We will not have success eliminating extremist elements in Afghanistan if we cannot confront them in western Pakistan. To do this we must fully engage Pakistan,” he said, adding that cooperation from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is vital to success.

“NATO must supply more military and civilian assistance personal and remove cumbersome constraints on their people in the field,” Bond said.

But, Bond said, the U.S. “must work with Pakistan to find out what will be required to achieve genuine and measurable progress against terrorists and insurgents in the federally administered tribal areas and other border regions in Pakistan.

“There are three legs of the stool that need to be addressed in the region; security, development and governance,” said Bond, adding that security will only be truly established when local Afghan and Pakistan security forces are able to hold territory themselves and when they have the incentives to do so.

Additionally, “We need to have USAID and other development organizations coordinate better with our military forces to provide what local leaders want and not just deliver to them, one year later, what we tell them they need. This means working with local councils or tribal gurges to insure we are meeting their needs.”

Terrorist victims finally receive justice from Libyan bombing

The families of the victims killed by the Libyan bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, from December 1988, are finally celebrating the restitution of justice from the Libyan government.

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) joined the victim's families one month before the 20th anniversary of the fatal crash that killed 270, including 38 from New Jersey. On October 31, 2008, Libya was "freed from the family of terrorist nations," Lautenberg said, when the final amounts owed to the families was deposited in an American bank account from the Libyan government. Kara Weipz, a family member who lost her 20-year old brother in the bombing, spoke about the "long fulfilled justice" that was due to the families. Although they do not forgive Libyan leader al-Gaddafi, Weipz said, the families are "free now to close this chapter in our nightmare."

President of Kurdistan: The terrorists have weakened and are losing ground

“Important things are happening in Washington today,” John Hamre of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said at a joint press conference with the President of Kurdistan, Masoud Barzani, concerning the future of Iraq.

President Barzani stated that his visit comes at a critical time, not only for the United States but for the entire world because the new president of the United States impacts the world. President Barzani said that his visit is intended to express his gratitude to the United States for their assistance in getting Iraq out of a dictatorship.

“A great opportunity has come to Iraq. An opportunity to have democracy and a free state but there are challenges ahead,” President Barzani said. He stated that the role of the Kurds is important and that they have shed blood fighting along side the United States. “The Kurds will continue to play a positive role to have a federal democratic state in Iraq,” President Barzani said.

He further stated that Kurdistan will stay committed and determined to make sure terrorists aren’t able to find foot ground in Iraq. He wants to make sure that Kurdistan maintains good relations with their neighbors. “ A lot of good meetings have happened with Turkey and Iran and we hope it continues for the sake of everyones freedom,” President Barzani said.

President Barzani assured that there is a current agreement being drafted between Iraqi officials and the United States. He said that the agreement has a timetable for withdrawal of troops in 2011 and that this agreement is better then any agreement that has been made in the past. “Fortunately the terrorists have not been able to gain a base in our region. If we look at the situation now, the terrorists have been weakened and are losing ground. If we do not continue on the successes we have had, there is always a chance of them gaining strength again,” President Barzani concluded.

The inside story of Iraq

After several years of experience as former Senior Counselor to Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, Administrator, Office of Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Baghdad and in the Defense Department, Washington, DC, Ambassador Tom C. Korologos today shared his experience and views related to the war in Iraq. In his opening statements Korologos outlined the United States previous objective in Iraq by the Bush administration. “President Bush’s first objective after 9/11, was to establish what could be done to prevent the next attack,” said Korologos.

Korologos spoke of what he had seen during his travels to areas in Iraq effected by the war, describing horrific stories from specialized rape rooms to human shuddering machines operated by Saddam Hussein and his regime. “There were more than 300,000 mass-grave sites found so far in Iraq and they’re still looking,” Korologos said. According to Korologos, Saddam have had close ties to al-Qaida and been a supporter of terrorism long before the Iraq war started and 9/11 occurred. “Every Iraqi I spoke with as I traveled the country had suffered at least one loss in the family to Saddam’s brutality,” said Korologos. According to Korologos, the United States need to be patient in order to prevail against terror-extremists such as al-Qaida.

According to Korologos, President Bush came up with new reasons to stay in Iraq after Saddam’s fall. “They had the troops that they needed to take the country, just not to hold it, and certainly not to rebuild it,” Korologos said.

Osama bin Laden still plotting attacks on America

More than seven years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is not caught nor dead and according to Bruce Hoffman, professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. The al-Qaida network is establishing safe havens and re-organizing in the regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan, showing they’re becoming even more dangerous and likely to succeed with a new attack against America, he said. “I see al-Qaida having a lot to celebrate in 2008,” said Hoffman at the ‘Al Qaeda 3.0’ conference hosted by the New American Foundation and New York University’s Center on Law and Security.

According to Frances Townsend, Homeland Security adviser to President Bush during 2004-2008, establishing instability and strengthening extremism among the tribal areas in Pakistan is another strategical move of the al-Qaida network in order to get nuclear armed. “The Taliban has re-established it’s strength in Afghanistan, they are working very diligently to destabilized the new government in Pakistan,” Townsend said. She highlighted the importance of America recognizing and not underestimate the major influence al-Qaida have on geopolitics as they continuously have intentions to be influential in the area. Her future expectations is that the al-Qaida network will expand the foot hold they have gained in Pakistan, and continue to plot a new attack on U.S. soil and execute it.

Peter Bergen, senior fellow at New American Foundation and CNN’s national security analyst, highlighted the decreasing popularity and public support of the al-Qaida network. He said the strategy of Osama bin Laden is attack the far enemy to make his close enemies to fall. According to Bergen, the leaders and members of al-Qaida are not poor and undereducated people. “If you’re poor, you’re too busy being poor to be a terrorist,” said Bergen. He also underlined that there is still sleeping terrorist cells within American borders, planning a new attack on the United States.