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SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR KPAO OIIP OPRC PGOV PREL PK
SUBJECT:  PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: DECEMBER 02, 2009 
 
Summary:  All TV networks telecast live Wednesday morning President 
Obama's address announcing the new Afghan Strategy. Newspapers 
highlighted reports that President Obama is sending 30,000 
additional troops to Afghanistan.  Commenting on the subject, "Daily 
Times," cautioned that "any knee-jerk response may not only be 
futile, it may actually unleash unforeseen and unintended 
consequences."  Several major dailies reported Pakistan Foreign 
Minister Qureshi's remarks that "Pakistan's problem was not increase 
in troops in Afghanistan, but their positions of deployment." 
Secretary of State Clinton's statement, made while addressing 
American business executives, that the "U.S. can ignore Pakistan 
only at its own peril" also received prominent display.  Reports of 
the assassination of an NWFP legislator in a suicide attack in Swat 
garnered front-page coverage.  "The News," quoted Prime Minister 
Gilani who terming the U.S. drone attacks as "counterproductive." 
Some dailies also reported that an American and a Swiss national 
along with their facilitator were detained at Landi-Kotal for 
entering the tribal district without permission.  End Summary. 
 
TOP STORIES 
 
News Story: New Strategy For Afghanistan: U.S. Going For Troop 
Surge; Withdrawal In Three Years "Dawn" (12/02) 
 
"U.S. President Barack Obama is sending 30,000 additional troops to 
Afghanistan but plans to conclude the war and withdraw most American 
troops within three years, White House officials said on Tuesday. 
'We came to that determination through a series of deliberations and 
getting a strategy for how we go forward in Afghanistan,' White 
House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told CNN."  (Story also covered 
in all newspapers) 
 
News Story: Our Concern Is About Area Of Deployment: Qureshi "Dawn" 
(12/02) 
 
"Pakistan had been informed by the U.S. that it planned to increase 
troops in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in 
Frankfurt on Tuesday, Mr. Qureshi said at a press conference. He 
said that U.S. National Security Adviser James Jones had contacted 
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in Frankfurt and informed him 
about the U.S. decision. Mr. Qureshi said that Pakistan had no 
objection to the increase in the number of U.S. troops in 
Afghanistan, but wanted details about their deployment." (Story also 
covered in all newspapers) 
 
News Story: U.S. Can Ignore Pakistan Only At Its Own Peril: Hillary 
"Dawn" (12/02) 
 
"U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that the 
United States could ignore Pakistan only at its own peril. In an 
address to American business executives, Secretary Clinton pointed 
out that the United States could not afford to ignore threats 
emanating from far-off places because on Sept 11, 2001 it learned 
how dangerous it was to do so." (Story also covered in all 
newspapers) 
 
News Story: Success In Afghanistan Linked To Pakistan: U.S. 
President  "Dawn" (12/02) 
 
"President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that U.S. success in 
Afghanistan, where he plans to deploy 30,000 more troops, was 
'inextricably linked' to Washington's partnership with Pakistan. 'We 
will act with the full recognition that our success in Afghanistan 
is inextricably linked to our partnership with Pakistan,' Obama told 
cadets at the U.S. military academy at West Point, in a speech 
televised live nationwide." (Story also covered in all newspapers) 
 
News Story: Obama, Karzai Discuss New U.S. Afghan Policy "Dawn" 
(12/02) 
 
"Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President Barack Obama discussed 
the new U.S. policy for Afghanistan during an hour-long 
videoconference call on Tuesday morning. Karzai's office said the 
two leaders discussed in detail the security, political, military 
and economic aspects of the strategy." 
 
News Story: No Exit But Strategy Is Transfer And Transition: Mullen 
"The Nation" (12/02) 
 
"Welcoming President Barack Obama's new Afghan policy, the top US 
military commander today said the decision to start withdrawing of 
troops from the war-torn country in 18 months is not an exit, but it 
is a strategy of transfer and transition, Admiral Mike Mullen, 
Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chief of Staff, was quoted as saying by 
American Forces Press Service." 
 
TERRORISM/MILITARY ISSUES 
 
News Story: Security Man Killed In Islamabad Suicide Blast "The 
News" (12/02) 
 
"A Navy official Ashraf has been killed and three others injured in 
a suicide attack at the entrance of Naval Headquarters at 1330 PST, 
Wednesday, December 02, in sector E-8 in Islamabad. According to 
sources, a suicide bomber aged between 16 to 17 years blew up 
himself when Naval guards stopped him at the entrance of Naval 
Headquarters. Deputy Inspector General Islamabad Police Bin Yameen 
has confirmed that it was a suicide attack." 
 
News Story: Suicide Bomber Kills ANP Lawmaker "Dawn" (12/02) 
 
"A teenaged suicide bomber blew himself up, killing ANP lawmaker 
Shamsher Ali Khan as he was seeing off guests who had come to his 
house in Mingora to offer Eid greetings on Tuesday. Shamsher Khan's 
two brothers and nine other people were injured." (Story also 
covered in all newspapers) 
 
News Story: Drone Attacks Blocking Way To Success, Says PM "The 
News" (12/02) 
 
"Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, terming U.S. drone attacks 
counterproductive, said that it is creating a lot of anti-American 
sentiment all over the country and without the public support we 
cannot win this war, the Prime Minister said in an interview with 
German Magazine Der Spiegel." 
 
News Story: War On Terror Was Forced Upon Us, Says Gilani "Daily 
Times" (12/02) 
 
"Pakistan should not be looked upon only as a country at war and the 
problem of terrorism and the war against it were 'thrust upon us,' 
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Tuesday. In an interview 
with German paper SPIEGEL Online, Gilani said the terrorism in the 
region was a result of the world's alienation of it." 
 
News Story: No Need Of Pak-U.S. Joint Command Against Qaeda: FM "The 
Nation" (12/02) 
 
"Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said there is no need of 
joint command between Pakistan and the United States regarding 
actions against Al-Qaeda and Taliban, while talking to a British 
news agency on Tuesday." 
 
News Story: U.S., Swiss Nationals Held In Torkham "Daily Times," 
"The Nation" (12/02) 
 
"An American, a Swiss and their local facilitator were brought to 
Peshawar for interrogation on Tuesday after they were arrested from 
the Torkham border crossing on Monday. 'We are investigating what 
forced the two foreigners to attempt crossing the border into 
Afghanistan,' officials told 'Daily Times.' The American was 
identified as Nicole Tank and the Swiss as Matayse." 
 
News Story: Terrorists Being Targeted In Orakzai, Kurram: ISPR 
"Daily Times" (12/02) 
 
"The military is targeting terrorists in Orakzai and Kurram agencies 
and has destroyed several training centers in the areas, the 
Inter-Services Public Relations said on Tuesday. Speaking on Radio 
Pakistan, ISPR Director General Major General Athar Abbas said the 
military was moving according to its plans and terrorists had 
reportedly fled to Orakzai and Kurram, where their hideouts were 
being targeted. He said around 600 terrorists had been killed and 22 
arrested so far in the Operation Rah-e-Nijat in South Waziristan, 
adding that about 70 army officers and Jawans had also been martyred 
during the operation." 
 
News Story: Four Militants Killed In Bara "The News" (12/02) 
 
"The Frontier Corps (FC) officials claimed killing four militants in 
the Kamarkhel area of Bara during an exchange of fire. Local sources 
told 'The News' that five houses, owned by the wanted militants, 
were demolished in the Yousaf Talab area of Bara." (Story also 
covered in all newspapers) 
 
Editorial: Afghan Policy Review, an editorial in the Lahore-based 
liberal English language daily "Daily Times" (cir. 10,000) (12/02) 
 
"Seemingly, the future military plan will be to corner the Taliban 
at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and then deliver barrages of 
drone aircraft attacks against enemy pockets while continuing the 
fagade of a military and economic alliance with Pakistan. This 
strategy too is expected to furnish only limited success in a 
spiraling conflict. Caution in all the possible scenarios remains 
inescapable. The problem is knotty and needs measured handling, 
taking into account the nuances and sensitivities of the 
forces-that-be. Any knee-jerk response may not only be futile, it 
may actually unleash unforeseen and unintended consequences." 
 
Editorial: Obama Surrenders To Warmongers, an editorial in the 
Islamabad-based rightist English daily "Pakistan Observer" (cir. 
5,000) (12/02) 
 
"There was parallel pressure on President Obama from warmongers from 
within his administration and the armament industry, interest of 
which is best served by consumption of arms and ammunition of all 
sorts in situations like Afghanistan and Iraq. And it seems they 
ultimately prevailed and Obama, who came to power with the promise 
of change, fell victim to their machinations for continuation of the 
conflict in Afghanistan. We wish the world community should have 
exerted pressure on Obama advising him against adventurism but now 
the history is destined to decide things." 
 
Editorial: Threats And Lure, an editorial in the center-right 
national English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) (12/02) 
 
"The gist of the letter that became public, courtesy the American 
media, and observations of unnamed U.S. officials provide an 
interesting insight about how the policymakers in Washington view 
Islamabad's significance and role in the anti-terrorism war and the 
difficulty in dealing with Pakistan. The view, 'We can't succeed 
without Pakistan,' is a strategic reality as seen by a senior 
administration official, contains food for thought for Pakistani 
leaders, if they had not grasped the point earlier.... The Obama 
administration should break the mould of the Bush era thinking that 
denied Pakistan the civilian nuclear technology it so generously 
offered to India, while the lack of conventional resources to undo 
the power scarcity was a problem for both, and Pakistan being its 
partner and a frontline state in the war on terror deserved 
preferential treatment." 
 
Editorial: U.S. And Britain's Insistence On Doing More, an editorial 
in liberal Urdu daily "Express" (cir. 25,000) (12/02) 
 
"American President Obama has warned Pakistan to desist from using 
Lashkar-e-Taiba and other terrorist outfits as strategic weapons.... 
 Indian diplomacy seems to be instrumental in the change in the 
American attitude.  Firstly, America never before talked of 
terrorist groups' usage as strategic weapons and secondly, American 
President has named Lashkar-e-Taiba which India had been accusing of 
11/26 attacks in Mumbai.... The adventurism of last eight years in 
Afghanistan has not been fruitful and al-Qaeda and Taliban are 
getting strength once again.  The need of the time for America and 
Britain is to play their due role in the campaign in Afghanistan 
instead of merely increasing pressure on Pakistan." 
 
Editorial: The 'Do More' Mantra, an editorial in the country's 
premier business newspaper, "Business Recorder" (cir. 25,000) 
(12/02) 
 
"A U.S. Senate report commissioned by Senator John F. Kerry, which 
was released on Monday, holds Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld 
and his top commander, General Tommy Franks responsible for al Qaeda 
leadership's slipping into Pakistan. The report sums up the 
consequences, maintaining that the neglect left the American people 
'more vulnerable to terrorism, laying the foundation for today's 
protracted Afghan insurgency and inflaming the internal strife now 
endangering Pakistan.' Thus Pakistan is a victim of American 
negligence. Instead of hectoring Islamabad, Britain and US need to 
help it as it bears the brunt of terrorism." 
 
Editorial: U.S. Press Report And President Obama's Threat, an 
editorial in the Lahore-based populist center-right Urdu daily 
"Khabrain" (cir. 50,000) (12/02) 
 
"According to press reports, President Obama has warned Pakistan 
that America will be forced to take any action in Pakistan's western 
and southern border areas if Pakistan did not take effective action 
against the terrorists.  Pakistan should take a stern note of the 
U.S. President's threat and should tell him that the war on terror 
is failing because of U.S. and its allies' incompetence and not 
because of Pakistan." 
 
Editorial: Prime Minister's Flat Refusal, an editorial in the 
popular rightist Urdu-language daily "Ausaf" (cir. 10,000) (12/02) 
 
"Despite the befitting retaliation from Prime Minister Yousuf Raza 
Gillani over the 'do more' demand from U.S. President Barack Obama, 
the unfolding events in the region have exposed Washington's covert 
agenda. It seems that the U.S. has planned to not only occupy the 
natural resources in this part of the world but also intends to 
create difficulties for Pakistan as well as China by elevating India 
to the position of regional bulwark. We urge the government, 
politicians and the policy-making institutions to put aside their 
mutual differences and join hands to confront the U.S. designs." 
 
Editorial: New Threat To Pakistan from U.S. And Britain, an 
editorial in the Karachi-based, pro-Taliban Jihadi Urdu daily 
"Islam" (cir. 15,000) (12/02) 
 
"According to several analysts, the real objective of sending more 
U.S. troops to Afghanistan is to cope with Pakistan and the 
Washington-Delhi-Kabul trio has decided to attack Pakistan. We think 
that our political and military leadership must develop a 
comprehensive strategy and take the entire nation on board to 
confront this threat to our country." 
 
Editorial: Become Standing Guards for Survival, an editorial in the 
Peshawar-based Urdu-language daily "Mashriq" (cir. 55,000) (12/02) 
 
"The latest threat from Washington and London seems the reiteration 
of their old tactics to pressurize Pakistan to follow the guidelines 
of these powers aimed at vested interests. We are a country replete 
with natural resources but a weak and irresolute leadership has made 
Pakistan a 'beggar state'. Our rulers must take immediate steps to 
achieve the goal of economic independence in order to safeguard the 
sovereignty of the country." 
 
Editorial: Swat Attack, an editorial in the Karachi-based 
center-left independent national English daily "Dawn" (cir. 55,000) 
(12/02) 
 
"The killing of Shamsher Ali Khan, an ANP member of the NWFP 
Assembly, in Swat yesterday is a grim reminder that the war against 
Maulana Fazlullah and his TTP militants has not yet been won. The 
problem appears to stem from the security forces' inability to 
capture or eliminate the top leadership of the militants in Swat.... 
The focus, therefore, needs to be on finding and capturing or 
eliminating the leaders of the Swat TTP who are still at large.... 
Operation Rah-i-Nijat in South Waziristan has cleared many of the 
Mehsud militants' strongholds, but no leader of note, local or 
foreign, has been captured or eliminated in the operation. There, 
too, there has been a lack of adequate human intelligence on the 
ground. Without a doubt, the security forces have fought bravely and 
achieved many successes in recent months. But the gains made could 
yet be lost if the TTP leaders are not captured or eliminated." 
 
Opinion: Absurd Demands & Accusations, an op-ed by Shireen M. Mazari 
in the center-right national English daily "The Nation" (cir. 
20,000) (12/02) 
 
"Given the growing absurdities of the U.S. and its allies in this 
region, especially in relation to the unending demands being made on 
Pakistan, with no reciprocity, it is time for Pakistan to do a major 
rethink of its whole cooperation with these powers. Renegotiate the 
cooperation with the U.S. on Afghanistan, including terms for 
transit access to NATO supplies; demand an immediate end to the 
Indian presence in Afghanistan alongside the border areas with 
Pakistan and a clamping down of their covert activities from Afghan 
soil targeting Pakistan; throw out all the private military 
contractors, be they DynaCorp or Blackwater or any other; make the 
U.S. access in Pakistan more transparent; get Parliament to approve 
all agreements with external powers relating to military and 
security cooperation.... After laying our country's very existence 
on the line for the United States' misguided War on Terror, the time 
has come for Pakistan to demand rather than to continue giving in to 
U.S. interests." 
 
Opinion: The Ghost Of Tora Bora, an op-ed by Rafia Zakaria in the 
Karachi-based center-left independent national English daily "Dawn" 
(cir. 55,000) (12/02) 
 
"Not living up to the promise of returning to the rule of law as a 
defining principle of American initiatives abroad is not the only 
disappointment. While strong on rhetoric against both Al Qaeda and 
the Taliban, the American President has not defined U.S. objectives 
in the region. No American and certainly no Afghan or Pakistani 
knows at this moment whether U.S. objectives are nation-building, 
counter-insurgency, intelligence-gathering or peacemaking. The 
resulting confusion obfuscates whether the enemy in question is the 
Taliban, Al Qaeda or both. Like the Bush administration, the Obama 
dispensation has failed to unify the various branches of government 
to construct a cohesive strategy to tackle the war on terror. In the 
Pakistani case, this means that the U.S. military continues to 
supply the Pakistan Army with billions of dollars of equipment and 
aid concomitantly detracting from the power of the flailing civilian 
government.... The true tragedy of Tora Bora is not the fact that 
Osama bin Laden remains free. Instead, it is the fact that in being 
uncertain of its goals and evasive about its ideological and moral 
position and strategic aims, the United States has let Osama bin 
Laden dictate the terms of the war on terror." 
 
Opinion: The Taliban Mindset, an op-ed by Dr. Khalil Ahmad in the 
Lahore-based liberal English language daily "Daily Times" (cir. 
10,000) (12/02) 
 
"What was sowed by the intellectual, political, religious, business, 
and military elites is today beginning to rear its ugly head and its 
consequences are affecting ordinary citizens in the form of absolute 
insecurity that threatens their very existence without any reprieve 
in sight. This tragedy is deeper than our imagination can fathom.... 
To fight this war we first have to admit that we are in the midst of 
an intellectual as well as a real war." 
 
Opinion: Increasing U.S. Influence, an op-ed by Muhammad Tahir Iqbal 
in the Lahore-based liberal English daily "The Post" (cir. 5,000) 
(12/02) 
 
"The Obama administration is again ready to send the reinforcement 
of 25,000 troops to Afghanistan impending more peril to the already 
volatile region. The terror has, now, crept into Pakistan with all 
its machination wreaking every other day its vengeance on the 
innocent citizens of Pakistan. The reign of terror has been let 
loose here.... To render this dismal scenario all the more worse, 
the Americans have found their true pals in Pakistan that can lend 
them all assistance they need to accomplish their designs. These 
American allies, ensconced in the power seats at Islamabad, in 
return want their reign secured and strengthened as reward of their 
friendship, and that is what they get staking sovereignty and 
integrity of Pakistan. Thanks to Pakistani media that has imparted 
acumen to the eye of a layman. Now nothing can remain in wraps for 
long. In recent times, there have been stories as to the suspicious 
but meaningful activities of the spreading U.S. network in Pakistan. 
The credible sources have this that these dubious and mysterious 
activities of the Americans are well aided by their true pals at 
Islamabad.... In this disturbed situation fraught with deception and 
hollow verbosity exhibited by our politicians, who are perhaps dumb 
and deaf over mounting U.S. interference in Pakistan." 
 
Opinion: Time To Listen To Saner Voices, an op-ed by Mahmood Sadiq 
in the Lahore-based liberal English daily "The Post" (cir. 5,000) 
(12/02) 
 
"President Obama continues facing the same old question - should he 
continue with his predecessor's course, which has caused great 
damage to the U.S. He missed the opportunity granted by a broad 
national mandate and the universal consensus against the Bush 
policies. One hopes he won't miss the chance this time when the 
people are demanding to do something about the national and world 
ailments.... With U.S. economy on an unrelenting decline and no 
military solution to Afghan problem in sight, Obama should ride the 
rising tide of the demand of 'do something' and dare to stare the 
hawks in the eye. If he again misses the opportunity, nothing would 
save him and his people from disaster." 
MISCELLANEOUS 
 
News Story: SC Moved To Search American Embassy "The News," "Daily 
Times" (12/02) 
 
"The Watan Party has filed a petition at the Lahore High Court, 
seeking directives to search the U.S. Embassy for the recovery of 
illegal weapons and evidences for the alleged U.S. involvement in 
terrorist activities in Pakistan. The counsel for the petitioners, 
Barrister Zafarullah Khan, cited reports that the ISI director 
general had shown proofs to the visiting CIA chief last month about 
his organization's involvement in the terrorist activities in 
Pakistan." 
 
News Story: Iranian Plan To Build 10 Uranium Plants Not A Bluff 
"Daily Times" (12/02) 
 
"Iran's plan to build 10 new uranium enrichment plants is not a 
'bluff' and Tehran will go ahead with the program, President Mahmoud 
Ahmadinejad said in a televised interview on Tuesday." 
 
 
POLITICAL ISSUES 
 
News Story: Most Of Rs100bn Loans Written Off In Musharraf Era "The 
News" (12/02) 
 
"Industrialists, military men and politicians have got loans of over 
Rs100 billion written off from banks since 1985, the National 
Assembly Secretariat record has revealed. A big chunk of loans was 
written off during the regime of former President Pervez 
Musharraf." 
 
News Story: SC To Take Up Petitions Against NRO On Dec 7 "Dawn" 
(12/02) 
 
"After having failed to get parliamentary protection, the NRO 
beneficiaries are pinning their hopes on the Supreme Court which has 
fixed Dec 7 to begin hearing of petitions challenging the 
controversial law promulgated by former military ruler Gen. (Retd) 
Pervez Musharraf to grant amnesty to politicians, bureaucrats and 
holders of public offices involved in corruption and criminal 
cases." 
 
News Story: Zardari Fends Off Opponents, At Least For Now: U.S. 
Paper "Dawn" (12/02) 
 
"President Asif Ali Zardari appears to have fended off his 
opponents, at least for now, but the struggle has weakened him 
considerably, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday. In the 
process, he had to deal with pressures from opponents in the media, 
the courts, parliament and the military and despite these pressures 
he 'appears to have reasserted his grip on the presidency for the 
time being.'" 
 
Editorial: Evaporating, an editorial in the populist, often 
sensational national English daily "The News" (cir. 55,000) (12/02) 
 
"The Zardari presidency is clearly crumbling before our eyes and the 
president has little chance of avoiding this disaster, which is of 
his own making. Domestically he has lost the support of the media 
with but a few diehard exceptions.... The president is not going to 
go quietly and he will fight to retain what he can of his power and 
position, but the die is now cast - it is a matter of 'when' and not 
'if'. It could have been so different had he kept a few more 
promises and not lost touch with an electorate that in reality was 
voting for his slain wife and not him as the leader of the hour. But 
it was not to be and the president who should never have been will 
be another sad footnote in our political history." 
 
(All circulation figures are based on estimation) 
Patterson