Nothing stunning in the appearance of Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on CBS News’ “Face the Nation”. He offered the standard “it’s a challenge, but we’re doing fine” on Afghanistan and Pakistan while promising eventual withdrawal from Iraq.
HOST JOHN DICKERSON: Joining us now, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen . Good morning, Admiral. Thank you for being with us.
I want to ask you first about Afghanistan. There are new operations and they’re testing the U.S. counterinsurgency strategy. Can you give us a progress report?
MULLEN: Well, I’m comfortable with the strategy. We’ve had — launched an operation earlier this week, the first significant one. Read the rest of this entry »
It is stunning how Pakistan, which only a month was the subject of speculation on Government collapse and the Taliban taking over nuclear weapons, has receded from the headlines. Part of the explanation is the screen of the Pakistani military’s “success” in clearing insurgents out of cities like Mingora. The bigger story remains, however: the manoeuvring between Islamabad and the insurgency in and beyond the Swat Valley has left more than two million Pakistanis “internally displaced”.
A briefing by President Obama’s envoy Richard Holbrooke on Wednesday captured (inadvertently, possibly) the tension as he says in different places: “The military is still in the process of cleaning out Swat and Buner and other areas” vs. “It’s not a good sight, but it has not yet reached the level of a situation where people are dying of cholera.”
AMBASSADOR HOLBROOKE: This trip was the idea of President Obama. It was not one of the regularly scheduled trips to Afghanistan, Pakistan that I have been making. I’ve made two already, both of which included stops in India. This was, at President Obama’s personal direction, a trip to go only to Pakistan in the region – I also went to the Gulf – and to show American concern and support for the humanitarian crisis enveloping western Pakistan and to offer more support. Read the rest of this entry »
SEC. GATES: First, I would like to express my horror and deep regret over today’s shooting incident at Camp Liberty in Iraq. I offer my sympathy and condolences to the families of those who were killed. We are still in the process of gathering information on exactly what happened, but if the preliminary reports are confirmed, such a tragic loss of life at the hands of our own forces is a cause for great and urgent concern, and I can assure you that it will get this department’s highest-priority attention.
As you know, I just returned from a trip to Afghanistan, where I met with our troops and commanders in the field. My purpose in going was to see firsthand the preparations and plans under way to execute the president’s strategy for the region, especially as significantly more American troops begin arriving in country. I thought it critically important to get a sense from the ground level what needs — what the needs are, what the challenges are and what the solutions to some of the problems are. Read the rest of this entry »
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, conducted earlier this week, was broadcast today. While the discussion has already been overtaken by events in Pakistan and Iraq, we’ll be commenting on important clues to the future course of Obama foreign policy in an analysis tomorrow.
ZAKARIA: Secretary Gates, thank you for doing this.
Question of the Day: Who is the most important “reliable” leader in Pakistan?
No, it’s not — at least if you’re a key official in the Obama Administration — President Asif Ali Zardari. The correct answer is General Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani (pictured).
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It is stunning how Pakistan, which only a month was the subject of speculation on Government collapse and the Taliban taking over nuclear weapons, has receded from the headlines. Part of the explanation is the screen of the Pakistani military’s “success” in clearing insurgents out of cities like Mingora. The bigger story remains, however: the manoeuvring between Islamabad and the insurgency in and beyond the Swat Valley has left more than two million Pakistanis “internally displaced”. 
SEC. GATES: First, I would like to express my horror and deep regret over today’s shooting incident at Camp Liberty in Iraq. I offer my sympathy and condolences to the families of those who were killed. We are still in the process of gathering information on exactly what happened, but if the preliminary reports are confirmed, such a tragic loss of life at the hands of our own forces is a cause for great and urgent concern, and I can assure you that it will get this department’s highest-priority attention.
Question of the Day: Who is the most important “reliable” leader in Pakistan?
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