Pakistan battles terror in tribal areas

Bush today called Pakistan a strong ally in the fight against terrorism. For his part, the Pakistani PM told Bush that the extremists are the exception rather than the rule in his country. Bush offered Pakistan $115 million dollars in food aid over the next two years, and this analyst says that’s exactly the kind of message the Bush administration should be sending Pakistan at the moment. US-led counterterrorism operations in Pakistan have made more enemies than friends in Pakistan. This analyst says aid must be conditional, and there also has to be a way for the US to shore up the PM’s civilian administration and that the military has too much power in Pakistan. This analyst says the Pakistani PM’s move to negotiate with tribal leaders as questionable. What analysts do agree on is that Pakistan isn’t able to carry out an effective military and political campaign in the tribal areas of the country. and this analyst thinks it’ll be 3-5 years before Pakistan is able to carry out such campaigns. In that time, the US will likely continue working on its own to take out targets in Pakistani tribal areas.