Obama Hosts Pakistan Leader

Time to take on the Taliban: President Obama begins talks with leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan on Wednesday to redraft the already outdated security strategy they released just five weeks ago. As the Taliban insurgency moves closer to Pakistan’s political center, the three countries must work quickly to prevent the militants from fracturing Pakistan and gaining control of Islamabad’s nuclear weapons. Afghanistan is not as much of a problem: “By comparison, it looks like Canada,” one U.S. official tells the Los Angeles Times. The Defense Department is pushing for $400 million in military aid, and the Obama administration wants to disburse more than a billion and a half more over five years under certain conditions from Pakistan. Obama will have to use all his powers of diplomacy at the talks: Pakistan is intensely opposed to U.S. “drone” airstrikes and Afghanistan is frustrated over civilian casualties.