Key US lawmaker says American strategy in Pak not working
27 Jun 2009, 1529 Hrs

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Washington, June 27 A senior US lawmaker has warned that the US strategy for fighting insurgency in Pakistan is not working.

Congressman Gary Ackerman, who chairs the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, also warned that US military and economic aid could influence government policies but cannot change ground realities.

"The anger and desperation of this population should give us pause if the continued growing public outrage about civilian casualties caused by our drone strikes was not enough," The Dawn quoted Ackerman, as saying.

"What is becoming clear is that while our own understanding of regional, security, ethnic and tribal dynamics is growing, so, too, is the popular backlash against the methods we've been using," he added.

Although, Ackerman strongly backed using force to defeat the extremists, he also underlined the need for changing US strategy.

"Something needs to change. Albert Einstein's warning holds true today: We can't solve our problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them," he said

Ackerman said the scenario before 9/11 has changed for the United States, which did not have a "sustained, deep or serious" commitment to either Afghanistan or Pakistan at that time.

"We used them and they used us, and we assumed their dysfunctional governments and failing economies were problems of little consequence to us," he said.

During a congressional review of US policies for South Asia, another lawmaker, Edward Royce noted that excessive restrictions placed in a house bill for tripling US aid to Pakistan would stifle efforts to increase trade between the United States and Pakistan. (ANI)

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