'Testimony of C. Christine Fair before the United States House of Representatives, Armed Services Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations: The US Strategy in Afghanistan: Impacts upon US Interests in Pakistan', United States House of Representatives // Armed Services Committee // Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, 5 November 2009
EXCERPT: "After many years of viewing the Afghanistan and Pakistan theatres as distinct if not competing for priority, the Obama administration has inextricably linked the two when it unveiled its White Paper of the Interagency Policy Group's Report on US Policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan ... While this phrase is a useful mnemonic to remind all that the two theatres are in fact deeply linked, the term also—albeit inadvertently—suggests erroneously that US interests in the two countries are symmetric. Yet, US interests in both states vary in important ways ... Proponents of this 'regional approach' contend that once Pakistan feels at ease with its larger neighbor, it can abandon its long-standing policy of relying upon militant groups to prosecute its interests in Afghanistan and in India. In this testimony, I argue that this formulation is flawed and indeed critically inverts the primacy of US interests. Arguably Pakistan—not Afghanistan—is the epicenter of the most intense US national security interests including regional conventional and nuclear stability, terrorism, and nuclear proliferation."
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"US wants effective partnership with Pakistan", DAWN, 11 November 2009
Pakistan seeks role in US-Afghan policy, VOA News, 11 November 2009
The US needs a new Af-Pak strategy, Far Eastern Economic Review, 10 November 2009
Related reports:
Testimony of Marin Strmecki before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations: Hearing on US Strategy in Afghanistan, United States House of Representatives // Committee on Armed Services // Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, 5 November 2009