State Department critical of Pakistani response to Taliban

In another indication of the gathering strength of the insurgency, Taliban militants have taken control of a gateway district close to the Pakistani capital. The district of Buner, home to almost one million, is just seventy miles from Islamabad and leads to speculation that the Taliban could be making plans for a move on the city. This increases concern that the government is unprepared to fend off the strategic advances of the Taliban. Now, U.S. officials are questioning the government’s willingness to take on the insurgents. Both Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have warned of the consequences, Secretary Clinton went so far as to call it an “existential threat”. So is Pakistan fighting for its very existence?

To help us understand the Pakistani point of view of the Taliban insurgency and the government’s reaction, we turn to Ambassador Munir Akram. Ambassador Akram was Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations from 2002-2008.