April 26:
Mounting unrest in Pakistan, and the apparent inability of Pakistani forces to prevent Taliban insurgents from reaching within 60 miles of Islamabad, has led the United States to give the Zardari government an ultimatum: "either stop the Taliban, or we will." The Times of London reports that Washington has made it clear it will respond militarily if the Taliban approaches the capital, and that is not willing to risk the prospects of an unsecured nuclear arsenal. The Taliban have reached the district of Buner, close to the Swat valley where they have already succeeded in imposing sharia law.
April 29:
As the U.S. takes its fight against the Taliban to new locations in Afghanistan, American troops will be targeting areas where opium flourishes. The New York Times reports that the U.S. is looking to prevent the Taliban access to the lucrative opium trade - which is estimated to net the movement $300 million per year - by sending 20,000 soldiers to Holman, Kandahar, and Zabul Provinces, where the cash crop is grown. The problem, however, is a daunting one; opium trade accounts for roughly 60 percent of Afghanistan's gross domestic product, so Western powers need to provide a viable substitute for the farmers to make money. Wheat cultivation is one proposed solution, and the U.S. military has pledged $250 million toward agriculture projects and new infrastructure to help get Afghan crops to market.
May 1:
As Pakistani troops attempt to retake Taliban-held territory, the Obama administration is weighing the idea of providing counterinsurgency (COIN) training for Pakistan’s military. According to the London Telegraph, the administration has proposed an advance of $400 million to provide helicopters, night vision goggles, and other equipment to support training of Pakistani COIN forces. Past sensitivities to placing U.S. soldiers on the ground in Muslim Pakistan may be alleviated by training Pakistani troops at another location in the Middle East, such as Qatar.
May 3:
New agreements between Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada have reinforced the longstanding defense ties between Washington and Tokyo, reports the Japan Times. The defense meeting comes as each country is poised to revisit its defense strategy, via the National Defense Program Guidelines and the Quadrennial Defense review, respectively. Joint efforts to bolster missile defense were a prominent topic of discussion, in light of North Korea’s recent rocket launch. Additionally, Hamada proposed the creation of a Japanese-U.S. Joint Declaration of Security - an initiative he plans to discuss with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton early next year, on the 50th anniversary of the U.S.-Japanese security alliance.
May 5:
The United States is redoubling its efforts to bring North Korea to the negotiating table. CNN reports that Stephen Bosworth, the State Department's envoy to the DPRK, will embark on a tour through Asia to draw support for future potential talks with North Korea. The primary purpose of the trip is to pressure the other members of the Six Party Talks, primarily China, to coax Pyongyang back to the bargaining table.
May 6:
Just five weeks after developing its new "AfPak" strategy, President Obama has briefed his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts on the plan. According to the Los Angeles Times, the meetings between Mr. Obama and Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari focused not only on new initiatives to combat the Islamic insurgency raging in Afghanistan, but ways to contain and counter the Taliban in Pakistan. The dialogue was not solely political; in addition to conversations between the heads of state, military and intelligence professionals from all three countries have also met. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, meanwhile, has visited the Saudi capital of Riyadh to drum up support in that country for the counterinsurgency effort in Pakistan.