The government of Pakistan says it will send up to ten-thousand more troops to provide security along the border with Afghanistan to prevent infiltration by al-Qaida terrorists and remnants of the ousted Taleban regime. The Pakistani troops will join some eighty-thousand Pakistani troops already in the region.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Pakistan, where she met with President Pervez Musharaff and Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri. Ms. Rice said the Pakistanis "are clearly working. . . .hard to try to fight this war on terror":
"What we are all trying to do is to commit as strongly as we can to the [anti-terror] activities, which make it ultimately impossible for al-Qaida and Taleban to operate on that border. We [the U.S.], Afghanistan and Pakistan are going to unify all of our efforts as we have done over the last several years toward the goal of eliminating the threat from al-Qaida and the Taleban."
Ms. Rice said that she is "confident that no one wants more to see the defeat of al-Qaida and the Taliban than Pakistan on the one hand, which has suffered at its hands, and Afghanistan on the other hand, which has obviously suffered at its hands as well."
Pakistani Foreign Minister Kasuri said that Pakistan is committed to finding al-Qaida or other terrorists seeking refuge in his country. He said Pakistan reiterates its "resolve to continue cooperation in the campaign against terrorism. This is fully consistent with our national interest," he said. Foreign Minister Kasuri also said, Pakistan reaffirms its "commitment to a stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan. . . .Pakistan," he said, "has taken important steps to strengthen security in [the border regions]. Enormous sacrifices have been rendered by our forces."
Secretary of State Rice said the U.S. and Pakistan "have a great deal in common, which is to defeat this terrible enemy, to return this region to peace and stability, and to allow the quite remarkable progress that has been made over the last five years to continue."
The preceding was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States Government.