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Should the bombings be maintained but performed by the Pakistani authorities?
The question is: is it effective? Thirty-five or 40 drone attacks have taken place. According to the media, eight or nine top Al Qaeda operatives have been killed. Obviously, where innocent people die, the media, the newspapers, the local authorities, they all rally public opinion.

Are you saying that if these attacks killed some of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud's companions or even him, they would be effective?
If Mehsud is taken out by these drone attacks, yes, I think the majority of the Pakistanis would support such an operation … But the fact is that if a group of determined indoctrinated fanatical militants are willing to lay down their lives, there is not very much that a country like Pakistan or Afghanistan can do, frankly. So I foresee a rise in these violent incidents if the drone attacks continue.

So the drone attacks should be stopped?
On balance perhaps there should be a halt to these attacks. I think the drones are not a long-term measure.

How do you weaken the insurgents?
Through the lure of socioeconomic development. After all, in Iraq's so-called insurgent awakening, they were made to lay down their arms because they were given a monthly stipend by the U.S.

After the Mumbai attacks and in view of the Indian elections, what evolution do you see for the relationship between India and Pakistan?
Both countries have shown immaturity. The knee-jerk reactions that used to happen after such an event was nearly war. Now [they understand] that fighting will not solve the problem—that violent extremism is a common problem to both India and Pakistan and that it requires a common bilateral or even regional solution. President Zardari, to his credit, has proposed that combating violent extremism in south and southwest Asia should be a combined effort of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia, and Iran.

What do you think about the so-called diplomatic back channel between India and Pakistan that Steve Coll reported on in The New Yorker ?
That has been going on for a while. It will continue because it is in the interest of India and Pakistan that this long-term dispute should be resolved. Even with the BJP [India's largest Hindu nationalist party] the back channel was going on.

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Posted By: concerned liberal @ 07/10/2009 11:14:29 AM

The biggest problem with the drones is that they are not dropping nuclear weapons, the second biggest problem is that they are not dropping nuclear weapons on the largest populated areas!
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Posted By: ventsyv @ 07/09/2009 1:41:01 PM

"It would be much better if the Pakistani agencies were launching these counterterrorist operations as part of a wider operation to win hearts and minds."
Yes, indeed. The problem however is that they are not launching any such operations because they sympathize with the Taliban and use them to their own ends.
One potential use of the Taliban and their supporters is against India. Another is to use them to destabilize Afghanistan and finally, they can be used to pressure the US government to give Pakistan military and civilian aid.
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Posted By: taniashaina @ 07/09/2009 12:56:35 PM

The moderate, democratic nation of Pakistan which is our ally has not invited American troops on her soil. Pakistan is under attack by radical Islamic aggressors, most visibly the Taliban, who are attempting to overthrow the government and impose an Islamic dictatorship. America's options are limitied. We can do nothing and permit the same terrorist gangs we are battling in Afghanistan to find safe haven in Pakistan. Or America can, with decent intelligence, fight these monsters from the air. We are not carpet bombing Dresden. We operate with great caution and skill to avoid civilian casualties as much as possible. We are fighting sadistic thugs who dismember their victims, who blow up schools, who explode bombs in markets to maximize casualties, who slaughter their captives, who use innocent men, women and children as human shields. Should we cut off their financial support from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab states? Should we cut off their drug dealing? Should we cut off their flow of arms much of which comes from places where we have influence. Yes, of course, we should do all of that. But America needs to keep the Islamo-fascists on the defensive and on the run. And in Pakistan we can do it from the air.