In this file photo, Pakistani tribesmen offer funeral prayers for the victims of a missile strike
Pakistanis Happy About Increased Aid, but Concerned About More Drone Attacks.A CIA drone flies above the tribal areas, but instead of firing missiles it waters a bed of terrorists.
Across this troubled country, where the safest of places, a mosque wasn't safe today, there is a hope that President Obama's new strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan replaces firepower with brainpower.
For years Pakistanis and Afghans, particularly the Pashtuns living along the border have been looking for their lives to improve, their children's education to increase and their vision of the future to change. And so they latched onto Obama's call today for a tripling of economic aid to Pakistan.
"A campaign against extremism will not succeed with bullets or bombs alone," Obama said. "Al Qaeda offers the people of Pakistan nothing but destruction. We stand for something different."
Barack Obama has unveiled his administration's new strategy in Afghanistan, including the deployment of an additional 4,000 US troops to train Afghan forces, following a review of policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The new strategy includes proposals to counter a persistent Taliban and al-Qaeda campaign that spans the two countries' shared border, and additional development aid for both nations.
Obama, who ordered the review of Afghanistan and Pakistan shortly after taking office in January, said a new strategy was essential because intelligence indicated al-Qaeda was "actively planning attacks" on the US from Pakistan.
"This is not simply an American problem, it's an international security problem of the highest order," he said on Friday.
"If the Afghanistan government falls to the Taliban or allows al-Qaeda to go unchallenged, that country will again be a base for terrorists.''
The US currently has about 38,000 troops in Afghanistan, in addition to the 17,000 US forces Obama ordered to be deployed in February and around 42,000 Nato troops.
But Obama also hinted that the US may be willing to talk to some members of the Taliban, saying there would be "no peace without reconciliation among former enemies".
Courtesy: ABC News and Al Jazeera
Pakistanis Happy About Increased Aid, but Concerned About More Drone Attacks.A CIA drone flies above the tribal areas, but instead of firing missiles it waters a bed of terrorists.
Across this troubled country, where the safest of places, a mosque wasn't safe today, there is a hope that President Obama's new strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan replaces firepower with brainpower.
For years Pakistanis and Afghans, particularly the Pashtuns living along the border have been looking for their lives to improve, their children's education to increase and their vision of the future to change. And so they latched onto Obama's call today for a tripling of economic aid to Pakistan."A campaign against extremism will not succeed with bullets or bombs alone," Obama said. "Al Qaeda offers the people of Pakistan nothing but destruction. We stand for something different."
Barack Obama has unveiled his administration's new strategy in Afghanistan, including the deployment of an additional 4,000 US troops to train Afghan forces, following a review of policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The new strategy includes proposals to counter a persistent Taliban and al-Qaeda campaign that spans the two countries' shared border, and additional development aid for both nations.
Obama, who ordered the review of Afghanistan and Pakistan shortly after taking office in January, said a new strategy was essential because intelligence indicated al-Qaeda was "actively planning attacks" on the US from Pakistan."This is not simply an American problem, it's an international security problem of the highest order," he said on Friday.
"If the Afghanistan government falls to the Taliban or allows al-Qaeda to go unchallenged, that country will again be a base for terrorists.''
The US currently has about 38,000 troops in Afghanistan, in addition to the 17,000 US forces Obama ordered to be deployed in February and around 42,000 Nato troops.
But Obama also hinted that the US may be willing to talk to some members of the Taliban, saying there would be "no peace without reconciliation among former enemies".
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