The Pakistani army said Thursday during a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates that it can't launch any new offensives against militants for six months to a year to give it time to stabilize existing gains.
The announcement probably comes as a disappointment to the U.S., which has pushed Pakistan to expand its military operations to target militants staging cross-border attacks against coalition troops in Afghanistan. Washington believes such action is critical to success in Afghanistan as it prepares to send an additional 30,000 troops to the country this year.
With the complaints of Pakistan that our coming surge offensive will just push Taliban into Pakistan, you'd think the Pakistanis would rather go first so that their jihadis get driven to Afghanistan where they become our problem to kill.
Yes, the Pakistanis have done a lot in the last year, to be fair to them. But if the Pakistanis weren't so insanely focused on the purported threat from India, the Pakistanis could free up enough troops from their large army pointed east to continue their attacks on border area jihadis without this delay.
Someobdy really should explain to the Pakistanis the rationale for their nuclear arsenal. If they don't deter an Indian invasion, what on Earth is the purpose of those nukes?
