In Depth:US-Pakistan Relations,part 2

On Wednesday,October 23,President Barack Obama and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held detailed discussions on the situation in Pakistan and where the two sides will go from here.President Obama commended the resolve of the government and people of Pakistan,armed forces and law enforcement agencies to defeat terrorists and praised Pakistan for its military campaign,the White House said.The two Leaders emphasized that no country's territory should be used to destabilize its neighbors.President Obama reiterated his confidence in Pakistan's commitment and dedication to nuclear security and recognized that Pakistan is fully engaged with the international community on nuclear safety and security issues.
Prime Minister Sharif expressed appreciation for the development and rehabilitation by the U.S. government of roads in Pakistan's border areas.Both sides emphasized the need to maintain and enhance the GLOC's infrastructure.
They welcomed the ongoing security transition in Afghanistan and Afghan-led preparations for next April's presidential elections.Prime Minister Sharif also underlined that the support of the international community in the repatriation of Afghan refugees and their reintegration in Afghanistan was of critical importance to Pakistan.Both Leaders called on the Taliban to join in the political process and enter into dialogue with the Afghan government.
The two Leaders stressed that the improvement in Pakistan-India bilateral relations would greatly enhance prospects for regional peace,stability and prosperity,as it would significantly benefit the lives of citizens on both sides of the border,the White House added.

Intelligence Insider:North Korea,Libya and Iran

The Iranians will welcome our departure from Afghanistan,said Lieutenant General James R. Clapper,Jr.,US Air Force retired,Director of National Intelligence.Their interest is in maintaining their interests in Iraq and Afghanistan,although they have not been as successful in the latter.They are providing explosives to Western Afghanistan,General Clapper told the Senate Armed Forces Committee.
The Afghan National Security Forces need continuing military intelligence and counterintelligence advice and assistance.
We had a general idea of the situation in Eastern Libya,the lack of control over the militias by the central government.The April and June 2012 attacks on the Benghazi consulate before the deadly September 11 attack were reported by the Directorate of National Intelligence.One of the lessons of Benghazi was the need of providing tactical level intelligence to the facilities.
It was a three-phase attack on the Benghazi consulate which took the lives of Ambassador Chris Stevens and two other Americans.Some of it was more vandalism and looting.The FBI has made some progress in id-ing the terrorists who made the attack.
I did not have any conversations with the Secretary of State or the President during the seven and a half hours of the 2012 Benghazi consulate attack.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is driven by his need to consolidate his power.The generals pretty much tell him what he wants to hear.The Chinese are certainly rethinking their relationship with North Korea.The Iranians are a little wary of North Korea.
North Korea has the basic ingredients for a nuclear armed missile.They've never launched their intercontinental missiles,so we don't know if they would work.The Defense Intelligence Agency has a higher level of confidence in North Korea's capability than the other agencies.
I agree that reduced intelligence for our leaders because of sequestration will threaten our national security.We had to cut four billion dollars in seven months,and it is substantial.We don't start to get better until 2022 or 2023,General Clapper,the senior US intelligence official,warned the Senate Armed Forces Committee.
Following his US Air Force career from 1963-95,General Clapper,72,was Director of the Defense Intelligence and National Geospatial-Intelligence agencies,and was also Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence.

Special Access:With the President

It can't be business as usual when we have troops sweating out another holiday in a hostile environment.Well aware of this,President Barack Obama tricked the media by seemingly helicoptering to Camp David for the weekend on Friday,then secretly flying back to Andrews Air Force Base near Washington.From there,He flew to Afghanistan on Air Force One-a 16-hour trip,completely fooling his observers.Looking none the worse for wear,the young leader arrived at Bagram Air Base just north of the Afghan capital,Kabul,late at night,flying down to Kabul by helicopter,where he received an official welcome from President Hamid Karzai and an honor guard.President Karzai only learned of Mr.Obama's visit an hour before he landed.Following a brief consultation with Mr.Karzai,President Obama went back to Bagram for an event with U.S. troops and a meeting with military commanders.
Attired in his black leather aviator jacket with an embroidered presidential seal and a name tag,the President greeted an excited crowd of about 2500 military personnel,plus a handful of civilian workers.I have no greater honor than serving as your Commander-in-Chief,the President told the troops.My main job here today is to say thank you on behalf of the entire American people.Everybody back home is proud of you,is grateful to you.You miss your kids,your spouses,your friends.Your services are absolutely essential to American safety and security.We did not choose this war.We were attacked viciously on 9-11.This is the region where the perpetrators,al-Qaida,still base their leadership.We are gonna disrupt,defeat and destroy al-Qaida and its allies.
Our strategy creates a military mission,but also a civilian effort for the Afghan people.More troops are on the way.We'll continue to work with Congress to make sure you have the equipment you need,the helicopters and armored vehicles.Our troops have pushed the Taliban out of Marjah.Pakistan is mounting major offensives.The al-Qaida and Taliban leadership are hunkered down.We are gonna keep them on the run.Together with our partners,we're gonna prevail.I am absolutely certain of that.We're gonna keep to improving your pay and benefits and family support,the post-9-11 GI Bill and the biggest VA budget in 30 years.
You've met your responsibilities.That's why you inspire me.All of you represent the virtues that America so desperately needs right now.I've seen your courage and your heroism,your tenacity and determination in our wounded warriors' incredible dedication,focus and pride.Each one of you is part of an unbroken line.They offer fear;and you offer hope.So long as there are folks like you,I am confident our nation will endure,the President assured the troops at Bagram Air Base.He had begun his speech at about 11:11 pm and finished around 11:44,including shaking hands as a live band played all the service anthems.He also visited a mess hall,speaking with a number of troops one-on-one.After a 6-hour mission,he was back aboard Air Force One for a red eye flight back to Andrews,having bucked up the troops as the Easter and Passover holidays approach,and improved his ties with the Afghan leaders and people.

A Burdensome Bureaucracy

We have an urgent requirement in Afghanistan,General Craddock pointed out,that was 80 weeks to fulfillment.We got it down to 60 weeks;our goal is 35 weeks.There are urgent requirements on the ground.This is simply untenable.We cannot do this.NATO has no counter-piracy policy,either,though it has participated in individual operations.Internal guidance is slow.Parallel tracks for funding is a problem.We were unable to reduce the number of headquarters.We had to salami-slice each HQ to meet manning requirements.NATO and the European Union have to find opportunities to coordinate,sharing the burdens of procurement,counter-piracy and training.We have to get political direction to open those doors.For administrative issues,business issues,the routine business of the alliance,we need to move beyond consensus.The NATO Secretary General needs more authority for timely action.
I started as a lieutenant 37 years ago guarding the Fulda Gap.I am optimistic,but absent the balance,we may well face difficulties and problems in the coming years,General Craddock concluded.With his gray hair and spectacles,he had a grandfatherly quality as he quietly addressed The Atlantic Council of the United States in Washington,D.C.

Political Leadership Is Lacking

NATO nations have yet to source all of their operation plans,General Craddock noted.We need to balance national and alliance issues.Political leadership in NATO is AWOL,absent without leave.That is why,to a great extent,this imbalance exists.We are in operations;NATO has had to accommodate national interests.The problem is generated when,over time,the accommodations layer over top of one another.We've got 70 caveats.The accommodations have created regional fiefdoms in Afghanistan.They won't do anything else when asked by ISAF,the International Security Assistance Force.Friction in NATO is of a different nature now that we have our forces in harm's way.We're under a 1999 strategic concept.This strategic concept has to find a balance between the level of ambition and political will.We're manned at about 82% in the command structure.We need to know how to engage with the Russian Federation.This alliance is challenged internally and externally.There have to be agonizing reappraisals.We've got to get this one better than we have,SACEUR insisted.

Special Access:With the NATO Commander

General Bantz J. Craddock,U.S. Army,recently evaluated the state of the Western defense alliance,NATO,for The Atlantic Council of the United States,a foreign affairs study group.General Craddock will complete his tour as Supreme Allied Commander Europe,SACEUR,a post once held by Dwight D. Eisenhower,in July.We are making slow progress in a part of Afghanistan,the general said,but we are stalemated in the south and east.We cannot prevail until greater control is taken in Pakistan.Secondly,the narcotics industry in Afghanistan is supporting the insurgency there.Governance is the critical path.If it fails,we fail.It's up to the Afghan people.Unless they see government as a positive factor in their life,we fail.We build;the Taliban extremists destroy,because they know they will lose if governance succeeds,General Craddock explained.

Security and Prosperity

I've come to Europe this week to renew our partnership,Mr.Obama continued.Together we must forge common solutions,he urged.America is changing,but it cannot be America alone that changes.All of us are moving forward.We are ushering in a new era of responsiblity.Trade wars have no victors.As we restore our common prosperity,we must stand up for our common security.Those terrorists of 9-11 are still plotting today.We have no interest in occupying Afghanistan.Now we need an alliance that is even stronger than when it brought down a mighty wall in Berlin.This is one of our central tasks.This is the generation that must also stop the pollution that is threatening our planet.We all know that time is running out.Let us meet that responsibiliy together.I am confident we can meet it,but we have to begin today,Mr.Obama feels.

A Broader Resolve

The uncompromising core of the Taliban and al-Qaida militants must be defeated,President Obama insisted.We will also work on a reconciliation process in every Afghan province.We will set clear markers to measure progress,and hold ourselves accountable.None of these steps will be easy;nor can they be undertaken by the U.S. alone.What's at stake is the very notion that free nations can come together for the common security.We will seek not simply troops from our allies,but a commitment to civilian action as well.We seek a broader coalition,incuding Russia,China and Central Asia.Nearly 700 Americans have died in the war,plus troops from 20 other nations.The USA did not choose to fight a war in Afghanistan.Most of the blood on al-Qaida's hands is the blood of Muslims.The road ahead will be long.We will use all the elements of our national power to defeat al-Qaida and defend our allies,Mr.Obama promised.

A Shift In Tone

Our military push will secure the August elections in Afghanistan,Mr.Obama pointed out.At the same time,we will shift emphasis to training Afghan security forces.The additional U.S. troops,to eventually total an augmentation of 21,000,have already increased our training capacity.Every American unit will be partnered with an Afghan unit in this push to turn security over to Afghan forces.The Afghan economy is undercut by a booming narcotics trade.We need to send more agriculture specialists,engineers and lawyers.There must be a substantial increase in civilians on the ground from us and our allies,as well as the UN.Our efforts will fail if we don't invest in the Afghans' future.Aid saves us an enormous amount of money in the long run,the President explained.

What Al-Qaida Brings

Al-Qaida offers the people of Pakistan nothing but destruction,President Obama stated.We support legislation authorizing 1.5 billion dollars of aid to Pakistan every year for the next five years.The creation of opportunity zones in the border region is a down payment on our own future.We must isolate al-Qaida from the Pakistani people.We will launch a standing trilateral dialogue between the United States,Pakistan and Afghanistan,to include intelligence-sharing.We must reverse the Taliban's gains.Our allies have borne a heavy burden.Now we must make a commitment that will accomplish our goals,Mr.Obama feels.

Who Obama Is:Commander-in-Chief

In a major address last week,President Barack Obama set out his strategy for the war in Afghanistan,which will be a central topic of the NATO summit the President will attend in Europe April 3-4.If anyone considered him a pacifist,they will have to reconsider in light of his firm position,which Senator John McCain(R-Arizona),his opponent in the recent election,described as a good plan.The situation in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly perilous,President Obama warned.If the Afghan government falls,the country will again be a base for al-Qaida attacks on America.The al-Qaida leadership uses the Pakistan frontier with Afghanistan to train and launch attacks.This is an international security concern of the highest order.The safety of people around the world is at stake.Afghanistan would be cast into the shadow of perpetual violence.I want the American people to understand we have a clear goal:to disrupt,dismantle and defeat al-Qaida.We must recognize the fundamental connection between Pakistan and Afghanistan.The terrorists within Pakistan's borders are a grave threat to Pakistan.They are a cancer that threatens to kill Pakistan from within.Military assistance to Pakistan is essential.To help Pakistan with the economic crisis,there must be International Monetary Fund and World Bank assistance.We must stand for lasting opportunity in Pakistan,the President held.

The Flow of Info

The Army Field Manual is the standard for interrogating prisoners today.This may be adjusted pending a review of the interrogation guidelines,Dennis Blair said.Many of the same issues as at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps obtain also at the Baghram prison in Afghanistan.There are issues of process and long term detention.I think you would be pleased about the flow of information from the FBI to the rest of the intelligence community.The structure is very much in place.You see a steady improving trend.I feel sort of good about it,but I'm afraid we're missing something as we did on 9-11;but it's basically a good story,Mr.Blair told the House Intelligence Committee.

A Humble Leader

The enemy is trying to increase the perception of insecurity among the Afghan people,General Schloesser believes.We are working against it,increasing the freedom of the roads,he said.I have very low numbers of troops in certain areas of RC East.I can't hold it.We're going to need more help in surveillance.None of this is a surprise to Washington.I am optimistic that,over a period of months,we will get what we need.I am humbled to work with your sons and daughters,as well as the Afghans,General Schloesser stated.They know why they're here.They remember 9-11,the soldier concluded.

Pakistan Is Helping

In recent days there has been a lessening of violence in upper Northeast Afghanistan,because of the success of the Pakistan military in Peshawar,Pakistan,which is next door.There has been a 20-30% uptick in enemy activity so far this year,however,compared with 2007.General Schloesser encourages the Pakistan military to expand its operations.I do believe they're doing their best to get after it,the general said.It's a slow win.It's not the way the Afghan and American people would like to see us win the war.I'd like to do it in a more robust way,General Schloesser admitted.

Special Access:With the General

Thursday is the seventh anniversary of the 9-11 attacks on the United States.Those attacks set off the recession of 2001.National security has a definite economic impact,so I am observing this anniversary with a military update on the Global War on Terror.Major General Jeffrey Schloesser,U.S. Army,is Commander,Combined Joint Task Force 101 in Afghanistan.In a teleconference with reporters at the Pentagon,General Schloesser,wearing his camouflage uniform,noted that there are several Islamic militant groups fighting in Afghanistan.Even the LET,a Kashmiri terrorist group from India,is among them.Al Qaida is serving as ideological ringleader and helping with funding the groups.These militants join together in their quest for a radical Islamic regime in Afghanistan,from where the 9-11 attacks were planned,prepared and directed.There are 7,000-11,000 of them in Eastern Afghanistan.Some of them are expected to remain in the country over the winter,so that they can resume their attacks more quickly when spring arrives.We are not losing the war,General Schloesser feels,though we need to proceed in a more timely manner.The enemy cannot win-even with what we have now.