Obama and Holbrooke differ on Pakistan
Lots of conflicted opinions coming out from Washington at the moment on the viability of the Pakistani government. General Petraeus basically declared Pakistan on the road to state failure, and seemed ready for a post-mortem. Though as we have said before, we do not think it appropriate that Petraeus should be making such declarations to the press; he should leave the politics to the State Department. Now Special Envoy Holbrooke is trying to put the genie back in the bottle after unflattering words from President Obama about the health of the Pakistani government. Holbrooke in a rushed press conference denied things are so grave as either Obama or Petraeus said, which puts Holbrooke firmly on the hot seat if his assessment proves inaccurate - Holbrooke disagrees with Obama’s assessment (Dawn Media Pakistan)
In an interview hastily arranged by the Pakistan Embassy to undo the impression created by President Obama’s remarks, Mr Holbrooke said he believed the Zardari government was capable of doing what his boss said it was not.
Questioned pointedly if the government in Islamabad was capable of delivering what is being expected from it, he replied: ‘Of course, the government in Islamabad is capable of running the country. They are democratically elected, a fine group of people,’ said Mr Holbrooke when asked if the Zardari government was capable of delivering what’s expected from it
Might be time for a moment of silence from Washington so as to let them collect their thoughts, and come forward with a unified voice on such a sensitive topic. No government, and especially one under threat and feeling international pressure, wants a public debate of their competence by one of their major partners. The State Department will be working overtime to smooth this one over.
