Tensions are still high in Pakistan after a tragic NATO strike on Pakistani troops two weeks ago. Where is the U.S.-Pakistan relationship headed? What are U.S. policy options vis a vis Pakistan? How does the situation in Pakistan affect U.S. forces in Afghanistan? Click here to join us right now for our “Lunch with Heritage” online chat where we are joined by Heritage’s Senior Research Fellow for South Asia, Lisa Curtis. Lisa is taking your questions about the way forward for the U.S. with Pakistan and Afghanistan. Lunch with Heritage …
Russia is trying to exploit U.S. vulnerability in Afghanistan by squeezing concessions on European missile defense. This is a disturbing development, potentially threatening security of the U.S. logistical operations. The campaign of anti-Americanism led by Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s Ambassador to NATO, culminated in his remarks before the Duma that Russia may link its opposition to the NATO missile defense in Europe to the future of the NATO supply line to Afghanistan. This complex logistics operation, known as the Northern Distribution Network (NDN), is responsible for 40 percent of NATO supplies, …
A NATO airstrike along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border on Saturday that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers has once again inflamed U.S.–Pakistan tensions and called into question the future of the partnership. The circumstances surrounding the strike are still unclear, and both NATO and U.S. Central Command have vowed to investigate the incident. Afghan and Western officials have said the airstrike was launched in response to firing from the vicinity of two Pakistani border posts. Pakistani military officials have denied those claims and said the NATO attack was unprovoked. Islamabad responded swiftly to …
The Pakistani media are having a feeding frenzy over an op-ed written more than a month ago in the London-based Financial Times by Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz. In his op-ed, Ijaz asserts that the Zardari government—through a senior Pakistani diplomat he later identified as Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S. Husain Haqqani—asked him to deliver a memo to former U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen, requesting his intervention to prevent a military coup in Pakistan in the wake of the Osama bin Laden raid. Ijaz claims …
The killing of Osama bin Laden was a hard-won victory for the United States, but the gains made in pursuit of that day of justice and in waging the war in Afghanistan–including putting al-Qaeda on its heels–could be squandered if the Obama Administration continues its plotted course. When Republican presidential candidates lay out their foreign policy agendas in next Tuesday’s debate hosted by The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute on CNN, they should pay significant attention to this seminal war that is so crucial to America’s struggle against terrorism. In …
With the 2014 Afghan troop withdrawal quickly approaching, a recent House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia hearing stressed the need to press Pakistan to fight terrorists who find sanctuary on its soil. In this most recent hearing, the four witnesses, including former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalizad, presented a united stance on the need to hold Pakistan accountable for its actions in the region. Lisa Curtis, a senior fellow for South Asia in the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation, has been encouraging the U.S. …
The Obama Administration is quickly trying to contain the damage in another potential foreign policy debacle, this time with nuclear-armed Pakistan. Last week, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, dropped a bombshell that rocked U.S.-Pakistani relations. In testimony before Congress, Mullen declared that the military intelligence service of this supposed U.S. partner is directing the Haqqani network, a militant group responsible for attacks on Americans, including the 20-hour assault on the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, that left 27 dead. The revelation causes immediate concern …
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe. Renewable Red Ink – Ed Feulner, The Washington Times Speaking the truth about right and wrong – Jennifer A. Marshall, The Heritage Foundation Strikes are reasonable, but not a cure-all – James Jay Carafano, Desert News 5 Major Ways The Obama Administration Is Killing American Jobs – John Hawkins, Townhall Pressure grows for US to list Haqqani network as foreign terrorist group – Jonathan S. Landay, The Kansas City Star …
President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s return to Yemen on Friday after four months in Saudi Arabia has sparked renewed violence after protestors launched demonstrations against the government that were violently repressed. Since the beginning of the uprising last January, Yemen—an already volatile and poor country—has plunged deeper into chaos, dividing the country and creating a power vacuum for al-Qaeda. On Sunday, Saleh attempted to appease protestors, promising elections and a peaceful transfer of power, as he promised many times before but failed to deliver. The opposition movement immediately rejected his option …
The assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was in charge of the High Peace Council pursuing reconciliation talks with the Taliban, is a clarifying moment for Afghans who had hoped Rabbani’s efforts would bring peace to the war-ravaged country. The assassination is a body blow to the political reconciliation process and will reinforce resistance among the country’s ethnic minority leaders to the very idea of seeking political accommodation with the Taliban. Rabbani’s assassination on Tuesday is eerily similar to that of Northern Alliance commander Ahmed Shah Massoud 10 …
