Pakistan Analysis: Has Islamabad Stopped the US Offensive in Afghanistan? (Porter)
Saturday, October 9, 2010 at 10:43 | Scott Lucas in Afghanistan, EA Afghanistan-Pakistan, India and Pakistan 
UPDATE 1400 GMT: Pakistan's Foreign Ministry has issued a statement, "After assessing the security situation in all its aspects, the government has decided to reopen the Nato/Isaf supply from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border at Torkham with immediate effect."
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Latest news from south-western Pakistan is that gunmen have set fire to nearly 30 tankers parked near a roadside restaurant near the town of Sibi.
By continuing its halt in NATO convoys headed for Afghanistan through the Torkham border crossing into a second week, Pakistan's military leadership has brought an end to the unilateral attacks in Pakistan pushed by Gen. David Petraeus and forced Washington to make a new accommodation.
And it may make it impossible for Petraeus to make the argument in the future that the United States can succeed in Afghanistan, given the refusal of Pakistan to budge on the issue.
The halt in NATO convoys bound for Afghanistan and unhindered attacks on tanker trucks have continued despite a decision by the White House to direct U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen to apologise to the Pakistani government for the deaths of three Pakistani soldiers resulting from a U.S. helicopter raid from Afghanistan into Pakistan.