Congress getting frustrated with Pakistan as a war ally

[unhappycamper]

Pakistani fire fighters struggle to extinguish burning oil tankers after militants attacked a terminal in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, early Monday, Oct. 4, 2010. Police say suspected militants have attacked and set on fire at least 20 oil tankers in Pakistan that were en route to NATO and US troops in Afghanistan.


Congress getting frustrated with Pakistan as a war ally
By Ashish Kumar Sen
The Washington Times
8:35 p.m., Monday, October 4, 2010

The closure of a key supply route for coalition forces in Afghanistan, a spate of attacks on NATO fuel tankers and criticism of U.S. drone strikes are fueling frustration in Congress over Pakistan's performance as an ally in the war against militants.

The importance of Pakistan's role was underscored last week when Islamabad protested an incursion by a NATO helicopter that killed three Pakistani soldiers by shutting off a supply route for coalition troops in Afghanistan.

Worried that this action could hurt the effort in Afghanistan, U.S. officials and lawmakers are pressing the Pakistanis to reopen the Torkham Gate route.

Sen. Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, thinks the closure of the supply route is "counterproductive," according to his senior adviser, Mark Helmke.

"Sen. Lugar sees the resumption of the logistic effort as clearly important on a strategic level, but also on an economic level," Mr. Helmke said, noting that thousands of jobs depend on the transport industry in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

[Xipe Totec]

1. Here is a suggestion: Stop bombing their villages. It tends to annoy them nt

[hobbit709]

2. Exactly! +1000