Friday, March 27, 2009

Change? What change!?
Washington - US President Barack Obama vowed to intensify the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Washington - US President Barack Obama vowed to intensify the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan as he outlined a new strategy for a conflict that began more than seven years ago but has no end in sight.
Obama said he was ordering an additional 4,000 soldiers to Afghanistan to increase the effort to build up Afghan security forces on top of the 17,000 already enroute to the country this year.
'We have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future,' Obama said.
Obama's speech came days before he heads to Germany and France for a NATO summit, where he will present his new approach and is expected to ask allies to contribute more to the conflict in Afghanistan. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend an international conference on Afghanistan in The Hague on Tuesday.
Obama made it clear that al-Qaeda's leadership, including Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is hiding in Pakistan and plotting terrorist attacks on the United States and other countries, and called on the government in Islamabad to do more to deny al-Qaeda refuge.
'They have used this mountainous terrain as a safe haven to hide, to train terrorists, to communicate with followers, to plot attacks, and to send fighters to support the insurgency in Afghanistan,' Obama said.
'For the American people, this border region has become the most dangerous place in the world,' he said. 'But this is not simply an American problem; far from it. It is instead an international security challenge of the highest order.'
Obama launched a strategic review of the situation in Afghanistan shortly after taking office in January, and has pledged to shift US resources out of Iraq and into the conflict with the Taliban.

Click here: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/southasia/news/article_1467282.php/Obama_aims_to_shut_down_al-Qaeda_in_Pakistan_Afghanistan__Roundup__ to read more.

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