Interview with Senators Kerry & Lugar about Af-Pac on NPR

[beachmom]

Really good interview. Significantly, Kerry emphasized that the Americans need to have as light a footprint in Afghanistan as possible. He also does not support any increase in America's firepower in Pakistan.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104154389

Sens. Lugar, Kerry: Investment In Pakistan Crucial

The United States sends billions of dollars to bolster Pakistan's military, and two senators say the U.S. should be doing more to build schools, health clinics and other civilian projects.

Last week, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) and Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) introduced the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009, a bipartisan bill that authorizes $1.5 billion in direct support to the Pakistani people every year over the next five years.

Their analysis of Pakistan shows that there can be bipartisan agreement in Washington.

[karynnj]

1. That is really good and it was nice to hear the two of them in a joint interview

They showed the same respect and civility they have in committee. I also liked the candor both had - in saying that success is not certain.

[Luftmensch067]

2. Thanks so much for the link -- I only heard part of this!

I was getting ready to go to the dentist this morning at a most indecent hour and I was so thrilled to turn on the radio and hear this interview.

I absolutely love the way Kerry and Lugar are presenting such a united front on issues, and I believe this is due in great part to JK's working style, which is collegial, cooperative and generous. Certainly shows how much work you can get done with that kind of attitude.

[beachmom]

3. Good commentary by the New Yorker about Af/Pak, plus this:

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2009/05/25/090525taco_talk_coll

It would be difficult for any President to set aside military analysis of this tenor; in any event, Obama has persisted with the Predator strikes at roughly the same rate as George W. Bush. There is no evidence, however, that the drone campaign has yet moved closer to Al Qaeda’s senior leaders, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, or dismantled the group decisively; instead, the targeting still seems to be stuck in the middle of Al Qaeda’s leadership lists. Moreover, Pakistan’s government, although it apparently facilitates the drone attacks in private, finds it necessary to vocally oppose them in public, knowing how unpopular they are. Opportunism and hypocrisy hardly seem the foundation for a sustainable political-military partnership that breaks with the unhappy past.

There are some ideas in train that may truly be transformative. Last week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearings on the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act, a bipartisan plan to provide Pakistan with $1.5 billion in annual nonmilitary aid, for at least five years. The legislation is intended to “mend a broken relationship with the Pakistani people,” as John Kerry, who co-sponsored the bill with Richard Lugar, put it. The bill has been well designed to support, for the first time in years, the long-term goal of rebalancing U.S. aid to strengthen pluralism and democracy in Pakistan. “Most Pakistanis feel that America has used and abandoned their country in the past,” Kerry noted. Indeed, most Afghans feel the same. Obama has inherited a toxic legacy; Congress, at least, could ease his burden. ♦