US media compliments Pak, with some sarcasm | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

US media compliments Pak, with some sarcasm

NEW YORK: The American print and electronic media, which for years has been portraying Pakistan in bad light for failing to act against extremists, is now showering compliments while commenting on the recent arrest of a key Taliban leader. But even some of their comments are backhanded.

For instance, Thursday’s New York Times had this to say about Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar’s arrest, ‘What is clear is that the Pakistani Army and intelligence service – which helped create and nurture the Afghan Taliban – can deliver bad guys when they want to’.

‘Good news from Pakistan is rare. So it was a particular relief to hear of the capture in Karachi of the Taliban’s top military commander’,the newspaper added.

‘The joint raid by American and Pakistani intelligence forces is a sign that President Obama’s investment in better relations with Pakistan is bearing fruit’.

It is also a reminder of how much more could be done if the Pakistanis fully committed to the fight against the extremists.

It said the move also reflects a breakthrough in US relations with Pakistan, which until now has been unwilling to target the Afghan Taliban leadership known as the Quetta shura.

The Washington Post said, ‘The capture in Pakistan of the Taliban’s second-in-command and operational chief doesn’t just deal a major blow to the movement, even as a US-led ground offensive is pushing it out of a southern stronghold. It also reflects a breakthrough in US relations with Pakistan, which until now has been unwilling to target the Afghan Taliban leadership known as the Quetta shura’.

‘The capture last week of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar means that Pak military intelligence service turned on a militant who had been one of its clients for many years. While Pakistani military operations in the past few months have battered the Pakistani branch of the Taliban’, the paper added.

US commanders have been saying for years that the war in Afghanistan could not be won without action against the Quetta shura and other Pakistan-based leaders. Now at least one of them has been removed from the battlefield.

‘That Pakistan finally cooperated must be at least partly attributed to initiatives taken by Obama in the past year. Among them are the strengthened US commitment to Pakistan, reflected in new civilian and military aid programmes as well as dozens of visits by senior American envoys. There is also the aggressive use of drone attacks against Pakistani Taliban leaders’.
Source: The Nation
Date:2/19/2010