Though he was less specific about his plans in Pakistan than when he unveiled his March escalation, President Obama is poised to use the escalation of the Afghan War as an excuse to further escalate the Pakistan War as well.
Amid the vagaries of his speech, Obama made it clear that the Af-Pak philosophy of viewing the conflict in Afghanistan as inextricably linked to the conflict in Pakistan is alive and well, and behind the scenes he is said to have already authorized an expansion of America’s strikes in Pakistan.
Convincing the Pakistani government to go along with the conflict in the face of growing popular distrust is easier said than done, but the strategy of forever pressing Pakistan to “do more” seems to already be going into high gear.
Since taking office President Obama has dramatically increased the number and severity of the drone strikes against northern Pakistan. He is, however, being pressed to expand the strikes into Balochistan.
