Keeping the Pakistan in AfPak
Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at 12:13AM
Thomas P.M. Barnett

ARTICLE: Pakistan Attacks Show Tighter Militant Links, By JANE PERLEZ, New York Times, October 15, 2009

The message:

A wave of attacks against top security installations over the last several days demonstrated that the Taliban, Al Qaeda and militant groups once nurtured by the government are tightening an alliance aimed at bringing down the Pakistani state, government officials and analysts said.

Yes, that ratchets up our attention on Pakistan, but our options for intervention there are limited.

Meanwhile, we are reminded of the illogic of assuming that the Taliban won't avail themselves of alliance with Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, if the right circumstances re-appear.

It also says that an AQ-only focused counter-terrorism strategy is way too myopic in strategic terms.

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