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Obama said Afghanistan and Pakistan are "inextricably linked" and that extremist elements in both countries must be confronted at once to stabilize the region. "Al Qaeda and its extremist allies are a cancer that risks killing Pakistan from within," the president said.

Sen. John McCain Friday denounced President Obama´s new plan for sending more troops to Afghanistan, saying it was "not enough" and suggesting the president ought to have been clearer that there will be more troop casualties. The Arizona Republican who ran against Mr. Obama last year said he was glad the president put the issue "front and center," but worried Mr. Obama hadn't offered a realistic enough picture of the likely increase in casualties that can be expected with the surge of troops. "The president talked about how tough it is, but I would have begun and ended this speech...

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2009 – The Afghanistan-Pakistan interagency policy review stresses the need for the United States to step up the counter-insurgency fight, a Defense Department official said today. “What we’re doing is stepping up to more fully resource a counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan that is designed to first reverse Taliban gains and secure the population, particularly in the most contested areas of the south and east,” said Michele Flournoy, the undersecretary of defense for policy. Bruce Riedel chaired the policy review with co-chairs Flournoy and Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. The three officials briefed...

WASHINGTON – Widening war in "the most dangerous place in the world," President Barack Obama launched a fresh effort Friday to defeat al-Qaida terrorists in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, defending his strategy with shades of the dire language of George W. Bush. Stirring echoes of Sept. 11 and making the war his own, Obama warned that al-Qaida is actively planning attacks on the United States from secret havens in Pakistan. He said he was setting new benchmarks and sending in 4,000 more troops, hundreds of civilians and increased aid for a war that has lasted more than seven years and...

FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2009 Obama On Afghanistan-- A Hodgepodge of Mixed Messages Here are a few Obama-Afghanistan headlines from the last 20 days: March 7, 2009-- Obama Announces We're Losing War and He Is Open to Reaching Out to Taliban March 11, 2009-- Genius Joe Biden: Only "5% of the Taliban Is Incorrigible" March 11, 2009-- Taliban reminds Obama & Biden: "We're not Moderate" March 23, 2009-- Obama Already Looking For Way Out of Afghanistan March 23, 2009-- Obama (Who was against Iraq War) Says: "Iraq War Was Easier Than Afghanistan" March 24, 2009-- Obama will stay on offense in...

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Friday affirmed a tripling of US economic aid to Pakistan to $ 1.5 billion annually over the next five years, calling it a ''down payment'' for America’s future security even though he unambiguously accused the country of being a safe haven for al-Qaida and its leadership. Obama announced what seemed like a buy-out strategy while unveiling his administration’s new Af-Pak policy in which there was a pronounced shift to Pakistan as the central front in the so-called war on terror. In an oblique indictment of Islamabad, Obama implied that Pakistan's military strategy was the...

I asked the boss for a reaction to the Afghan speech. He said he would have framed a few things differently, but his basic response was: "All hail Obama!"

As a candidate, Barack Obama called Afghanistan "the war we must win." On Friday, however, President Obama laid out a new US strategy that sees Afghanistan and Pakistan as one problem and provides more resources for both countries, but also with the goal that they eventually defeat Islamic terrorists largely on their own. He no longer seeks a US victory over Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Rather, he now defines the US interest as merely preventing the Taliban from returning to power in Afghanistan and will do so by turning over much of that task to others. He calls such...

"... the situation is increasingly perilous. Many have been killed. What is our purpose in Afghanistan? Why do our men and women still fight and die there? because the 9-11 terrorists are still there. And in Pakistan. If the Afghanistan lets terrorists operate there, we will continue to be in peril. Afghanistan and Pakistan are tightly linked, with terrorists moving to the Pakistan border as a safe haven to train and plot. To America this border has become the most dangerous region in the world. But this problem runs across (most of the African and Asian world). The safety of...

Obama's Afghanistan proposal under fire Alex Isenstadt Alex Isenstadt 20 mins ago President Barack Obama's Afghanistan proposal is under fire from the liberal base, which is becoming increasingly disappointed in his war policies. Russ Feingold, the liberal and often defiant Wisconsin senator, said today that that Obama’s plan “could make the situation worse, not better.” Peace Action, a liberal anti-war organization, is organizing a coalition to petition Congress to oppose Obama’s Afghanistan plan. “It’s a shame President Obama believes he can pursue the same militaristic strategy as his predecessors and produce a different result,” said Kevin Martin, executive director of...

The US President said neither Afghanistan nor neighbouring Pakistan should be allowed to come under the control of terrorists. "I want the American people to understand that we have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future," he said in a speech. "That is the goal that must be achieved. That is a cause that could not be more just. "And to the terrorists who oppose us, my message is the same: we will defeat you." Mr Obama, who is sending...

President Obama has just spoken on AfPak. I closed my eyes and listened closely to his words, coming via the BBC from the other side of the world. The President's words were disappointing. He talked about our goal to reach a force level of 134,000 Afghan soldiers and 82,000 police by 2011. This is not even in the neighborhood of being enough. Further, the increase of 21,000 U.S. troops is likely just a bucket of water on the growing bonfire. One can only expect that sometime in 2010, the President will again be forced to announce another increase in U.S....

The New York Times reports that during an interview Friday, President Barack Obama indicated he is considering negotiations with some elements of the Taliban. Outwardly, the concept of America negotiating with barbarians seems absurd. Remember the brutal atrocities committed by the Taliban in Afghanistan under Mullah Mohammad Omar?Perhaps the insurgents collectively known as 'Taliban' in Afghanistan and Pakistan need closer examination. Perhaps these are not the same Taliban as the ones Mohammad Omar once ruled (he reportedly resides just across the border in Quetta, Pakistan).