NSC Official: "Public opinion on both sides wants to cut ties with the other. However, we are mutually dependent!"

 

The aftermath of the killing of Osama bin Laden continues to bring political advantage for President Obama. Should, as some US officials increasingly hope, a breakthrough take place in Libya, he will enter the 2012 presidential campaign with formidable foreign policy credentials.... ... How Obama uses his moment of foreign policy eminence is fiercely debated in Washington. His most pressing problem is Pakistan. An NSC official put it to us like this: "We face a collision of US and Pakistan politics. Public opinion on both sides wants to cut ties with the other. However, we are mutually dependent. We have to find a way through the present crisis." Obama himself and top Congressional leaders are actively engaging with their counterparts in Islamabad to cool passions. The critical issue is continuance of US drone attacks against Taliban elements sheltering in the border regions. Pentagon and CIA officials to whom we speak are not confident about a satisfactory resoution. Elsewhere, the resignation of Middle East envoy George Mitchell confirms what we have been reporting for some time, specifically that no new peace initative will be forthcoming from the Administration before the 2012 election. Mitchell himself has been barely active for some months. His resignation reflects the realities of Washington politics..."