US-AFPAK 2LST

"We have made real progress in Pakistan in the last year
and a half, but the focus is so overwhelmingly on Afghanistan
-- for valid reasons; that's where our troops are -- that we
have lost -- we haven't even recognised the movement in
Pakistan across the board: economically, politically,
strategically," Holbrooke said.
To achieve the goal to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al
Qaeda and prevent its ability to threaten the United States,
Holbrooke said the US has to degrade the Taliban because they
are part of the enemy structure, a different part but an
integral part that America faces.
"Now, the Afghan government doesn't yet have the capacity
to deal with this on its own. How could they after 30 years
of war? And so the civilian part of it, police, government
capacity, rule of law, sub-national government, training
provincial official, women's empowerment and a whole series of
other major issues -- are part of our civilian programs," he
said.
The civilian strategy of the Obama Administration, he
said, is designed from keeping al Qaeda at bay and it's
designed to help Afghan institutions establish conditions for
stable governance. PTI