US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke has spent a day in Peshawar and visited tribal areas situated on Pak-Afghan border where he was given briefing by Pakistani security forces about the ongoing operation against the terrorists.He also held meetings with officials. There were expectation that he will address a press conference in Peshawar, but due to security reasons he avoided meeting with newsmen.

::::::::

There must be a change in the policies of Barack Obama adminstration and Bush administration as this is the only option through which war on terror can be won. The Obama administration must learn from the mistakes of Bush, which always relied on the world's dictators. He relied on the dictator in Pakistan and this was the main reason of his failure.

Early signs are showing that the Obama administration is following the same policy adopted by Bush over the last eight years. Bush failed because he ignored the people. Obama will also fail if he continues relying on the same people in whom Bush made a heavy investment.

US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, has arrived in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province and some parts of tribal areas where he held meetings with the Army officials who have been carrying operations against terrorists. The envoy avoided meeting with common people.  I do not think the US envoy is aware that Pakistan forces have been killing innocent people. The impression is gaining strength that the US administration wants the killing, and destruction may continue.

According to tribal elders, the US special envoy -- instead of holding meetings with the officials of Pakistan who have a hand in creation of terrorists -- should hear the voice of geniune tribal elders. In democracy, the people must have the importance. Only the geniune tribal elders can solve the problem of terrorism.

A majority of tribespeople think that Obama has been given the mandate by the Americans for restoring peace and confidence of the people. He is the hero of peace lovers, therefore, he must succeed. We all should extend him the support whole-heartedly. But Obama should also consider the advice of common people as they have been living in the streets and understand the causes of terrorism.

US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke visited northwest Pakistan's tribal region on Wednesday, where security forces have been battling militants, officials said. Holbrooke arrived in Pakistan late on Monday at the beginning of his first visit to the region since his appointment and met top government and military leaders on Tuesday.

'He went to the headquarters of the Mohmand Rifles and was given a briefing about military operations,' said a government official in the region, who declined to be identified, referring to a paramilitary force in the Mohmand region.

An intelligence agency official in the northwest said Holbrooke had travelled to Mohmand, one of seven of Pakistan's ethnic Pashtun tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, by helicopter.

President Barack Obama named Holbrooke as his special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan last month, handing one of the most arduous US security challenges to the man who brokered the 1995 agreement that ended the Bosnian war.

He faces a host of challenges in dealing with the war in Afghanistan and an intensifying insurgency in northwest Pakistan while trying to ensure tension between old rivals India and Pakistan doesn't exacerbate the difficulties.

Holbrooke is also due to visit Afghanistan and India.

A US embassy spokesman declined to comment on what Holbrooke was doing on Wednesday.'As Ambassador Holbrooke said, he is in Pakistan to listen and learn the ground realities of this critically important country,' said embassy spokesman Lou Fintor. 'This was the focus of his discussions,' he said, referring to Holbrooke's talks on Tuesday with President Asif Ali Zardari, army chief General Asfaq Kayani and other top political and security officials.

Fintor said Holbrooke would report his findings to Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The US administration is moving to complete its review of Afghan strategy before NATO holds its next summit on April 2.

Obama said this week there was no doubt terrorists were operating in safe havens in the tribal regions of Pakistan and the United States wanted to make sure Islamabad was a strong ally in fighting that threat.

With Afghanistan in the grip of the worst violence since the Taliban were toppled from power in late 2001, the US military has drawn up plans that could almost double the number of US troops there to about 60,000.

Obama is expected to decide within days how many extra US troops to send, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday.

There are 37,000 US forces in Afghanistan as part of a western military presence of about 70,000 troops.

Source: dawn.com

Authors Website: https://voiceforpeace.wordpress.com/

Authors Bio:

Muhammad Khurshid, a resident of Bajaur District, tribal areas situated on Pak-Afghan border is journalist by profession. He contributes articles and news stories to various online and print newspapers. His subject matter is terrorism. He is also heading Voice For Peace working against terrorism in tribal areas. The aim of the Voice For Peace is restoration of peace in Bajaur Agency, tribal areas and whole world. He is looking for freelance and correspondent work from media organizations, to cover the part of the world where Al Qaeda and the Taliban are most active.