INDIA

INDIA

The Hindu, Madras, Oct. 8: The request by the United States and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, for an additional 40,000 troops sharply highlights NATO’s rapidly worsening problems.

There is, however, a void at the centre of NATO policy on Afghanistan. The original plans were to find Osama bin Laden, destroy Al Qaeda, and overthrow the Taliban regime, which harboured bin Laden. All those plans have failed disastrously, recoiling on the occupation forces.

Re-establishing a presence

If the very recent suicide bombing near the Indian Embassy in Kabul is a guide, the Taliban may be re-establishing a presence in the capital. As to Osama bin Laden, he has never been found.

The issue of Afghanistan is now causing serious problems in several NATO countries, particularly the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Germany.

Al Qaeda continues to be a global threat but the Taliban are clearly not. At most they are a regional threat and it is surely significant that it is Pakistans armed forces that have dealt most effectively with that countrys Taliban elements when they have been set that task.

JAPAN

The Ashai Shimbun, Oct. 9: North Korean leader Kim Jong Il suggested that Pyongyang may come back to the six-party talks. “We are prepared to conduct multilateral talks after we look at the result of North Korea-U.S. talks. Six-party talks are also included,” he said.

North Korea objected to the United Nations Security Council presidential statement that criticized Pyongyang’s test-firing of missiles in April. The reclusive regime has repeatedly said it would not return to six-party talks. Kim’s comment can be seen as a sign that North Korea is softening its stance.

Direct dialogue

The U.S. administration of Barack Obama also signified its willingness to engage in direct dialogue with North Korea — provided it is within the framework of six-party talks. There is still a profound difference in thinking between the two.

What are the “multilateral talks” that Kim referred to? We don’t know what North Korea has in mind, but whatever it is, Japan and South Korea are parties directly affected by the North Korean threat. There is no way that consultations excluding the two countries can be accepted.

During the last days of the George W. Bush administration, the United States hastened to compromise with North Korea without adequately making adjustments with such countries as Japan, China and South Korea. The United States should not make the same mistake. In advancing U.S.-North Korea talks, close cooperation with concerned countries is indispensable.

BRITAIN

The Telegraph, London, Oct. 12: To grasp the full significance of the assault on the general headquarters of Pakistan’s army, consider this scenario. Suppose the IRA had stormed the Ministry of Defence at the height of the Troubles and taken scores of soldiers and officials hostage. What would this have said about our ability to protect our national command centres?

The outrage in Rawalpindi was of this magnitude.

Incompetence

This woeful example of incompetence by Pakistan’s army carries sombre lessons. Despite the success of the offensive against the Taliban in the Swat valley, the army still cannot be trusted with an elementary military task like securing its own headquarters.

Moreover, the gunmen surely could not have succeeded without inside help. Some of the assailants wore military uniforms and no reinforcements rushed to the aid of the guards on the perimeter. All this suggests a degree of complicity between the attackers and elements of the army.