Security

Intel Chief: No Fixing Afghanistan without Pakistan

One day after a coordinated Taliban attack on government buildings in Kabul, the top U.S. intelligence official is warning of a sharp deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan. In an appearance today before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said the Taliban and related groups have expanded their operations into previously […]

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One day after a coordinated Taliban attack on government buildings in Kabul, the top U.S. intelligence official is warning of a sharp deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan.

In an appearance today before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said the Taliban and related groups have expanded their operations into previously secure areas in the west and around the capital. According to a threat assessment delivered to the committee, insurgent activity has "expanded in scope despite International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Operation Enduring Freedom military operations targeting insurgent command and control networks."

The assessment does credit the campaign of drone strikes inside Pakistan's tribal areas with disrupting al Qaeda's command structures. But a much larger problem persists in Pakistan. The assessment states:

No improvement in Afghanistan is possible without Pakistan taking control of its border areas and improving governance, creating economic and educational opportunities __throughout the country __[emphasis mine -- N.H.]. The government is losing authority in parts of the North-West Frontier Province and has less control of its semi-autonomous tribal areas: even in the more developed parts of the country, mounting economic hardships and frustration over poor governance have given rise to greater radicalization.

The Afghanistan-Pakistan linkage is not new; but the assessment comes as the Obama administration tries to devise a more sound strategy for dealing with Afghanistan's slow-motion disentegration. Observers -- including some on this blog -- have asked whether the drone campaign may have the unintended effect of undermining Pakistani support and bolstering militant extremism.

[PHOTO: Nathan Hodge]

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