Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today voiced alarm about a rising extremist presence inside Pakistan, which she said “poses a mortal threat to the security and safety of our country and the world” (see GSN, March 16).

"We cannot underscore the seriousness of the existential threat posed to Pakistan by the continuing advances -- now within hours of Islamabad -- that are being made by a loosely confederated group of terrorists and others who are seeking the overthrow of the Pakistani state," Clinton testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

She noted that the risks are particularly heightened by the existence of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, which many analysts are concerned might fall into the hands of Islamic extremists should the central government be overthrown. Islamabad is estimated to have roughly 60 nuclear weapons.

"I don't hear that kind of outrage or concern coming from enough people that would reverberate back within the highest echelons of the civilian and military leadership in Pakistan," Clinton said.

In particular, she urged the Pakistani diaspora in the United States to "speak out forcefully against a [Pakistani] policy that is ceding more and more territory to the insurgents -- to the Taliban, to al-Qaeda, to the allies that are in this terrorist syndicate" (Elaine M. Grossman, Global Security Newswire, April 22).

However, the Obama administration's new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan would do too little to address terrorism threats now emerging in Pakistan, says a report published by the Council on Foreign Relations this month.

The Obama administration described its approach to the region, dubbed its "AfPak" strategy, in a January white paper.

"The Obama strategy clearly recognizes that a fractured or incapacitated Pakistan would threaten core U.S. interests, not least because its nuclear weapons would be vulnerable to al-Qaeda or similar terrorist groups," CFR senior fellow Daniel Markey wrote in his report, "From AfPak to PakAf: A Response to the New U.S. Strategy for South Asia."

"But the Obama administration’s strategy does not establish that securing Islamabad’s political stability and partnership should be Washington’s primary regional objective," the report says.

"The 'Talibanization' of Pakistan's Pashtun belt is gradually moving eastward in settled districts, creating new terrorist safe havens in once-tranquil locales such as the Swat valley," Markey wrote. "If present trends persist, the next generation of the world's most sophisticated terrorists will be born, indoctrinated and trained in a nuclear-armed Pakistan."

"The geographic proximity of Pakistan’s nuclear program to these sophisticated terrorists and the recent history of illicit transfers of material and know-how also pose a unique threat," the report notes.

Markey said the Obama administration "should recalibrate its strategy to emphasize the priority of the mission in Pakistan and to prepare domestic and international audiences for expanded, sustained U.S. engagement in South Asia."

His report also calls for high-level U.S.-Pakistani talks aimed at "normalizing" and further safeguarding Pakistan's nuclear assets with measures "that are not perceived to threaten Pakistan’s security with respect to India" (Diane Barnes, Global Security Newswire, April 22).