by TChris

If Iraq is our next Vietnam, will Pakistan be our next Iraq?

The US envoy to Afghanistan has angered Pakistan by warning the country that it must eliminate "terrorist sanctuaries" near their common border or US forces will have to step in. In a speech Monday at a private Washington think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Zalmay Khalilzad said that if Islamabad doesn't solve the problem then "we [the US] will have to do it ourselves."

In other words, according to Khalilzad, if Pakistan doesn't root out terrorists on its soil, the "U.S.-led anti-terrorism coalition might send its troops to destroy them." Not a shining example of diplomacy.

Pakistani officials, already hampered by anti-American sentiment, are angered by what appears to be a threat to unleash the U.S. military on Pakistan. Information Minister Sheikh Ahmed Rashid said "We do not need anybody in our territories ... These kind of irresponsible statements can create political problems for us." Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan says that Khalilzad "is clearly out of his depth" and "should desist from making such statements that can only cause misunderstandings."

Update: The State Department stepped on Khalilzad by assuring Pakistan that the U.S. will not invade Pakistan's borders with U.S. troops. At least, not until after the election.