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Japanese editorial excerpts -2-
Asian Political News, April 7, 2008
TOKYO, April 3 Kyodo
Selected editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:
NEW STRATEGY IN PAKISTAN (The Japan Times, an English-language daily)
The new government in Pakistan could bring about important changes in the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban. The Cabinet of new Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, sworn in Monday, will not give the United States the free hand that it has enjoyed in Pakistan since the months after 9/11.
The U.S. must now demonstrate much more sensitivity to public opinion in that embattled country and shift its tactics accordingly. A new relationship with Islamabad will emerge as well as a new approach to the fight against militant Islam. Both could pay dividends - if executed in good faith by both sides.
Pakistan has been one of the front lines in the struggle against al-Qaida. It is estimated that several hundred of the group's operatives, as well as members of the Taliban, which was driven from power in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, have sought refuge in Pakistan's western provinces. Pakistan's president, Mr. Pervez Musharraf, has for the most part backed U.S. efforts to take the fight to those remnants, authorizing U.S. air strikes against them.
Those attacks have stepped up in recent months as Mr. Musharraf's grip on power has slipped; some speculate that the U.S. is exploiting a window of opportunity for as long as it can. Mr. Musharraf's political allies were routed in parliamentary elections in February and the opposition heads a new government that is far less inclined to authorize U.S. action.
While 45 foreign fighters have been killed in recent attacks, Pakistani officials are concerned about the collateral damage of such strikes. Civilians have been killed in some airstrikes and Islamic militants have stepped up their own attacks against Pakistani targets in response to their own losses. Some rightly blame al-Qaida for the deaths; others point their fingers at the U.S. for turning Pakistan into a battleground.
(April 3)
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