Afghan soldiers present arms during a graduation ceremony in Kabul. Two foreign nationals and an Afghan were killed in a shoot-out in central Kabul Saturday, the city's deputy police chief said. (AFP/File/Manpreet Romana)A Commentary From The China Post:
The situation has become even dicier as Islamabad goes through a difficult political transition. Wit
h the recent resignation of President Pervez Musharraf, a seeming ally of Washington on terrorism, the course his successor Ali Asif Zardari, the widower of slain presidential candidate, Benazir Bhutto, will take is open to question. However, Zardari’s early rhetoric regarding terrorism has been encouraging.
With the change in government in Islamabad, it is not even clear who — or even which government organization — is currently calling the shots regarding security operations along the Afghanistan border.
Many experts assert the Pakistani military under Gen. Asfaq Parvez Kayani — not the elected political leadership — is now directing and controlling the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida in the FATA. (Supporting this notion are the high-frequency visits to Pakistan of senior U.S. military officials such as Adm. Mullen.) Adding to the challenges, American cross-border Special Forces raids and Predator drone strikes into Pakistan have raised political hackles in Islamabad, potentially jeopardizing counterterrorism cooperation in the border area or leading to an unintended engagement between U.S. and Pakistani forces.
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