President Barack Obama and first Lady Michelle are welcomed

to the NATO Summit in Strasbourg by French President Sarkozy

and first lady Carla. This NATO Summit marks Frances return to

the NATO command structure it left in the 1960s.

El Pais, Spain

Obama's New Afghan Push: May He, and We, Succeed

"An allied defeat at the hands of Islamic fundamentalists, either real or apparent, would once again make Afghanistan a dynamo of terrorism around the world."

EDITORIAL

Translated By Barbara Howe

April 2, 2009

Spain - El Pais - Original Article (Spanish)

Beyond enunciating the needed changes, the conference on Afghanistan at The Hague [Mar. 31] enabled the United States to seek international assistance and has exhibited to Europe the determination, demonstrated by Barack Obama's decision to send 21,000 new troops to the country, to fully engage in a war that is crucial to the security of the Western democracies. A determination will also be made this week by the NATO allies, whose greater participation Washington demands - particularly of the reluctant Europeans.

The presence of Iran is also encouraging, responding to Obama's outstretched hand and his pledge to cooperate in combating opium trafficking, although he has reiterated his opposition to the presence of foreign troops from the neighboring country. One presumes that Hillary Clinton will offer an olive branch to Taliban who renounce violence, although seven years later, U.S. intelligence recognizes that it knows almost nothing about the structure of fanatical Islamist groups.    

'Drowning in Afghanistan, NATO Waits for Iran Rescue'

[Al-Hayat, U.K.]

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

Yet the strategic objective of the United States, according to what was enunciated last week by its president, continues to be the defeat of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan - and in that he is no different than his predecessor. Obama, who is less one-dimensional than Bush, believes that the solution is not exclusively military; he is appealing for the help Afghanistan's neighbors, he suggests, in the words of Clinton, some type of reconciliation emphasizing a greater role for civil reconstruction and economic aid, both in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the strict logic of events, these two countries form part of the same critical scenario.

The war in Afghanistan continues to fester and neither Washington nor its allies - Spain among them - have a clear idea of how to win it. Jihadism is not only consolidating itself but expanding unstoppably, as has been demonstrated by a succession of spectacular attacks in an ungovernable Pakistan, which must be stabilized without sparing any economic or diplomatic effort. Al-Qaeda has been pushed into the vast and uncontrollable border region of that country, but will return to Afghanistan even stronger if the U.S. and NATO are unable to unequivocally take the military initiative and establish in Kabul both a credible government and army. An allied defeat at the hands of Islamic fundamentalists, either real or apparent, would once again make Afghanistan a dynamo of terrorism around the world.

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[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US April 2, 6:17pm]