The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan said there will be more coordinated military operations on either side of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and commended Pakistan on its "impressive" counterinsurgency efforts.
The Taliban in Afghanistan and other extremist groups use safe havens across the border in Pakistan, and the U.S. has been pushing Islamabad to clear the lawless tribal belt that runs along the frontier. The pressure has often strained U.S.-Pakistani relations, with Islamabad bristling at suggestions it should do more. ...
"We want to do more hammer and anvil operations," Petraeus said late Saturday, in an interview aboard a military transport aircraft as he flew around the country on Christmas visits to bases and combat outposts dotted across north, west, south and east Afghanistan.
You have to wonder if these reports of unilateral US operations were part of the negotiating that got Pakistan to agree to actions that Petraeus finds commendable. I've mentioned the hammer and anvil concept in regard to the border region.
And the general makes a good point that Pakistan has actually done a lot, even as we need them to do more.
All in all, a good sign. Another good sign that people really shouldn't go all wobbly on the war formerly known by our left side of the aisle as "good."
UPDATE: Strategypage describes the good things Pakistan has done--even as we would like them to do more:
The Taliban in Pakistan are in a panic. The American surveillance and UAV missile attacks are becoming increasingly effective. Taliban and al Qaeda groups have been unable to come up with an effective way to shut down the American intelligence effort that finds more and more targets (there have been about ten attacks a month this year).
These are not reasons to withdraw to avoid defeat. Victory is taking time, but unless you want to construct speculative scenarios about how the Taliban won't really be a threat to us if we abandon the region to them, what choice do we have?
At this point, people prone to being anti-war are looking for excuses to do what they naturally prefer to do--retreat.
