Obama committed to support Pakistan in difficult times: NSC Adviser

WASHINGTON, May 7: President Barack Obama wants to help Pakistan “as quickly as possible” with both economic and military support as part of a concerted effort to resist the “very serious threat” of violent extremism, U.S. National Security Adviser James Jones said. Jones was briefing journalists after President Obama pledged to  provide both immediate and long‑term assistance to Pakistan at a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari and his Afghan counterpart in a trilateral White House summit.

“With President Zardari, the President (Obama) started out by declaring that he wanted to be of help to the people of Pakistan not just in a military way, but to help Pakistan with a new beginning; to again help the government institutionalize democracy and make progress, recognizing that these are difficult times, and the threat of extremists to Pakistan requires a concerted action,” he stated.

Jones, a retired Marine general, reaffirmed the White House belief that the al‑Qaeda threat can only be confronted effectively through a common focus.

“The President pledged to do whatever we could, to do as quickly to do what we can as quickly as possible to help the Pakistani government, and said this type of aid would not just be restricted to military, but we would aid in any ways we can to help with health and education, institution‑building, advisors, whatever we can do to help the government and the military resist this very serious threat.

“Miracles will not happen, so this won’t happen quickly.  But with a common focus, we can make strides hopefully in the near future.”

Jones emphasized the Obama administration’s conclusion from a strategic review that extremism is a regional and a common  problem ‑ with “several countries but one theatre” in terms of a unified appraoch.

“And this is the way we’re looking at it.  It’s important to occasionally remind ourselves that this is a common struggle, and we’re approaching it that way.

“So the central goal here is to make sure that all parties understand that this is a united front, not only among the Presidents, but among the Ministers of Defense, the Foreign Ministers, and the various echelons of government involved with economic reconstruction, judicial reform, and all of those things that go into stabilizing a situation.”

The national security adviser said the meeting has made White House confident about the way forward.

“I think it was a very warm meeting between the three Presidents. They have embraced common themes, an intent to work together, and I think was a very good start. And we will have more meetings the next couple of days at the ministers’ levels to continue to develop these issues.” (APP)