Letter to Senator Obama from London Institute of South Asia (lisa)

Letter to Senator Obama from London Institute of South Asia (lisa)

Dear Senator Obama,

Re: US Policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan

You have just returned from a tour of the Middle East and Afghanistan where you reiterated your commitment to withdrawing US troops from Iraq by the end of 2010 but advocated that US troops in Afghanistan be reinforced.

I am from Pakistan; there is disquiet in that country over your resolve to reinforce failure in Afghanistan. There is also fear in Pakistan that their country might fall apart just like Afghanistan. However, Pakistan would not be the first country where the US would end up hurting its friends more than its enemies. President Saddam Hussain was the friend of the USA when he invaded Iran. Then the USA turned on Iraq to destroy it in the First Gulf War; Saddam was removed and executed in the wake of the Second Gulf War; now Iraq is being readied for use as a base for invading Iran. It is feared it is the intent of the US to replicate Iraq in Pakistan; it is hard to read the threats being made any other way…. Read
http://www.lisauk.com/Articles.asp?aid=469

Who Really Rules Pakistan?

It is not just the Pakistanis who worry and wonder who really rules Pakistan; news items and articles have appeared all over the world expressing the same concern - who really rules Pakistan?

Most people in Pakistan think that the US Ambassador in Pakistan is the real ruler. If that had been the case, the American press would not have expressed so much anxiety over Pakistan and the economy would not have nose-dived as steeply as it has…. Read
http://www.lisauk.com/Articles.asp?aid=470

Insurgents close in on Kabul
* By focusing on Kabul, Taliban can undermine the last vestiges of support for the regime
Daily Times of Lahore
LAHORE: Afghanistan’s insurgents have a new target – Kabul, and the belt of towns and villages surrounding the capital, according to a Newsweek report.

“Today the Taliban are here,” says Maidan Shar’s white-smocked pharmacist Syed Mohammad, 32. “Tomorrow they may be in Kabul.” A supply convoy was attacked in his home village, a dot on the map called Pul Surkh, where he says insurgents now travel freely, packing new AK-47s and rocket-propelled-grenade launchers. A series of spectacular recent terrorist incidents have shaken Kabul, a city that is all too familiar with violence. Blast walls and barbed wire have sprouted to defend against suicide bombers. Residents are afraid to travel even a few miles outside the city. To some, the report says, the Afghan capital is beginning to feel like a new Baghdad….Read
http://www.lisauk.com/Articles.asp?aid=471