Afstan/Pakistan roundup

News from various fronts:

A CONVERSATION WITH HAMID KARZAI

An Afghan Province Points the Way

Ashdown pulls out of Afghan role

Pakistan Rebuffs Secret U.S. Plea for C.I.A. Buildup

I think the story about the Afghan province (US military in Nangahar) may reflect realities in Defense Secretary Gates' mind when he criticized other NATO countries' counterinsurgency actions. I sure hope an effective new UN Lord High Poobah for Afghanistan can be found. That role is crucial: 1) for making all the various international activities work together; and 2) for giving a recognizable UN face to those activities in order to win the public's support in many Western countries, e.g. Canada.

Something certainly has to be done to improve Pakistan's ability to deal with the Taliban, al Qaeda, and local Islamists:

Ex-Pakistani Official Says Policy on Taliban Is Failing

Update: As for "the way" above, a related Reuters story below (via Celestial Junk); would it not be ironic if in the end the Taliban were effectively marginalized in Afstan, but able practically to dismember Pakistan? Scary.

New U.S. strategy working in east Afghanistan

Upperdate: A thoughtful piece by William Arkin of the Washington Post:

Don't Open a Third Front in Pakistan

Helping train and advise Pakistani forces, plus some covert CIA activity coordinated with the Pakistani government, might just be tolerable in the country. Any attempt to have US units fight themselves would just discredit the government amongst the non-Islamist, large Muslim majority of the population.