Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is in the Afghan
capital Kabul to meet with Afghan officials, and try to smooth relations with Pakistan. His trip follows a deadly attack on Pakistani troops by a U.S. drone based in Afghanistan. In response, Pakistan has blocked two routes used to supply U.S. troops.
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Panetta
Afghanistan
U.S.
Afghan
Pakistan
Pakistani
NATO
General John Allen
General Kayani
Panetta says that violence in Afghanistan is reaching a five-year low. But it's hard to tell which metrics he's referring to exactly. Attacks against U.S. troops are certainly down from last year, but Afghan and international observers say that civilian deaths from the conflict are actually worse than ever. And as we've heard so much about Pakistan as pretty key to what happens in Afghanistan. And U.S. Pakistan relations were dealt a blow by a NATO helicopter attack that killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers this last month. The circumstances are still in dispute between the two countries. But is the secretary dealing with some of the fallout from that attack in this visit? Almost certainly. We have heard the news this morning that General John Allen, the U.S. commander and commander of NATO forces here, was able to reestablish what used to be regular phone contacts with General Kayani, his counterpart in Pakistan. That may be the beginning of a thaw that could allow relations at least from soldier to soldier on each side of this border to resume. So far, the border is still close to NATO supply trucks, which means huge amounts of supplies are coming in by air, or through expensive land routes that come in through the north. Bigger picture questions are whether Pakistan is going to assist in some sort of negotiations, long-term, to make peace in Afghanistan. Most everyone acknowledges that this conflict won't really end until Pakistan is on board, and that's got to be on the secretary's mind.
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