Pakistan Says It Needs Marshall Plan to Fight Taliban

[Coventina]

Source: Bloomberg

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan needs a modern day “Marshall Plan” to help it fight Taliban militants through economic development, President Asif Ali Zardari said, referring to the U.S. aid plan for Europe after World War II.

The northwestern tribal areas bordering Afghanistan need a “massive program” to boost education and employment, the official Associated Press of Pakistan cited Zardari as saying yesterday in Islamabad.

About half of the country’s more than 170 million people are under the age of 25 and their frustration with the current economic situation is a breeding ground for social unrest and militancy, APP cited him as saying.

Zardari is facing pressure from the Obama administration to step up the fight against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters that U.S. intelligence agencies say are sheltering in Pakistan’s tribal zone. The government in Islamabad says it is doing all it can to combat the guerrillas through selective military force and political and economic programs.



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=am2TtUXR7cmI&refer=home

[HereSince1628]

1. The Marshall Plan came after the war.

We aren't at after yet.

[MrModerate]

2. This is wacky in so many ways . . .

1) In case Zardari hasn't been paying attention, there's no money available.

2) As another poster has pointed out, the Marshall plan didn't start until the war was over. An example of how not to try to rebuild infrastructure is staring us in the face: Iraq. I was among the first civilian reconstructors in the country after "Mission Accomplished," and we couldn't get anything done because the frakkin' war was actually still being waged and our work was regularly sabotaged, stolen, or destroyed, our local employees kidnapped and killed, and our US customer completely discombobulated and ineffective.

3) Given that the current leadership of Pakistan will be lined up against a wall and shot if the Taliban (and other dissident groups) are successful in toppling representative government, would it be too much to ask that they try a little harder to solve the problems themselves? Like purging their security services of Taliban operatives? Or not cornholing the rural peoples to enrich themselves?