New Strategies

President Obama’s recent trip to visit our partners overseas has created quite a stir in the world. On the first few stops of his trip President Obama conferenced privately with our allies, and with NATO as a whole. The results of these talks resulted in the commitment of 5,000 more NATO troops from our allies in Europe, including 900 from the UK, 600 from Germany and Spain each, and an unconfirmed increase from Italy and France. Obama has committed to increasing the US presence by at least 21,000 more, with possibly another 10,000 more troops. The current total of NATO troops in Afghanistan is 70,000. President Obama has successfully achieved what he set out to do. President Obama made it clear that the US needed its NATO allies to win this war, and he has now tied NATO and Europe to a greater role in this conflict. However, as a result of his European tour, anti-NATO protesters came out in droves, fighting police and lighting fires. Estimates range from at least 10,000 – 30,0000 protesters were out in response to Obama’s visit.

Meanwhile in Afghanistan, the new Obama strategies are seemingly angering the militants. The Obama administration alongside the Afghans, have stepped up efforts to curb the opium trade. Afghani opium, which provides 90% of the world’s total output, not only hampers the efforts of the government, but also provides a crucial income to militants. In response to the stepped up efforts, suicide bombings against the anti-drug patrols has increased dramatically. This past week, one such bombing on a patrol killed at least 5, injuring 17. Among the dead and injured were 13 civilians and 4 police. One child was also killed. The US soldiers have killed 10 militants in battles over opium fields this week in the south and east of Afghanistan. A new push is being made into the northern regions of Afghanistan, north of Kabul. Not only is this region a Taliban stronghold, but it is also the heart of the opium trade. We can only expect violence to increase more with this new push against the opium industry.

In neighboring Pakistan, a recent US envoy, part of the greater Obama mission to reach out to our partners, has been met with mixed reviews. Pakistan made clear that is wants to have the US’s trust and that without it, nothing can be done. They were referring mainly to the monetary aid the Obama administration promised, upwards of $1 billion, but that the US wants some form of oversight of where the money is going, since Pakistan’s government is notoriously corrupt. This has caused relations to cool a bit, but not completely. The Pakistanis also made it clear that there was a “gap” in opinion about the recent drone attacks. Obama has stated that right now Pakistan is in a battle for its own survival. His new plan involved both Pakistan and Afghanistan as part of a greater world view in destroying the Taliban militants in both countries. The recent increase in measures against the Taliban in Pakistan has been largely successful to a point, but has caused a great deal of turmoil and violence within the country. The country is clearly split between those that support the Taliban and those who oppose it. This split and the frustration of the US success in the drone attacks has lead to a spike in bombings recently. While this is quite unfortunate, it means that the new tactics are working and frustrating the militants.