Zardari pushes back against U.S. claims

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari responded
strongly to U.S. critics of his nation’s conduct in the fight against
the Taliban during a television appearance Sunday.

Zardari,
widower of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and successor to
military dictator Pervez Musharaf, visited with President Obama,
administration officials, members of Congress and Afghanistation
President Hamid Karzi in Washington last week to discuss the joint
strategy to root out the Taliban and al Qaeda forces in both central
Asian nations.

{mosads}“It’s a war of our existence,” Zardari said on
NBC News’s Meet the Press. “We’ve been fighting this war much before
they attacked 9/11.”

But Zardari rejected the notion that his
nation is on the brink of collapse and contended that Pakistan is
merely one front in the global struggle against terrorism. “I consider
the philosophy of Taliban as threat to the world, not just to Pakistan
and your country, but I feel it’s a larger threat,” he said.

“I
think we need to find a strategy where the world gets together against
this threat, because it’s not Pakistan specific, it’s not Afghanistan
specific,” Zardari said. “I think the world needs to understand that
this is the new challenge of the 21st century and this is the new war,
and we’ve all got together.”

Pakistan has come under harsh
criticism from lawmakers in both parties for its handling of the
terrorist elements within its borders.

Zardair defended his
government and insisted that Pakistan is committed to the fight against
extremism – but he pointedly offered a reminder to Americans that al
Qaeda obtained seed money from the U.S. during the Afghan war with the
Soviet Union.

“They’re kind of a cancer created by both of us,
Pakistan and America and the world.  We got together, we created this
cancer to fight the superpower and then we went away–rather, you went
away without finding a cure for it.  And now we’ve both come together
to find a cure for it, and we’re looking for one,” he said.

On the same program, Karzai responded to similar questions and insisted that the Taliban will not bring down his government.

“They’re
not an existential threat to Afghanistan’s government. They are a
threat to our, to our efforts towards more security, more progress,
more reconstruction and a more peaceful life.  That threat they
definitely are, and especially in parts of the country,” Karzai said.

Gen.
David Petraeus, who heads U.S. Central Command, offered support for the
Zardari government on Fox News Sunday. “There is a degree of unanimity
that there must be swift and effective action taken against the Taliban
in Pakistan,” Petraeus said, stressing that the terrorist
organization’s presence in Pakistan is a threat to the nation’s
stability.

Petreaus said that the democratic government of
Pakistan has shown clear signs of improvement in its stance toward the
Taliban and al Qaeda.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) made clear on
CNN Sunday that there are elements among U.S. politicians who have
grown impatient with Karzai and his government. Corker said that Karzai
showed “smugness” and “flippancy” to lawmakers at a recent meeting.

Likewise,
Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) indicated that doubt exists in Congress
about Karzai and Zardari’s commitment to defeating the Taliban and al
Qeada. “I think it may go back to that old line I guess from President
Reagan, trust but verify,” Casey said. “And the only way we can verify
is to continually evaluate what the Pakistani army and their military
forces are doing to push back the Taliban and to defeat them.”