Transcript
VANDA FELBAB-BROWN: Yet, despite these dire circumstances and the negative trends facing the country, the Obama administration will face several important opportunities. One is domestic support in the United States for the focus on Afghanistan. And this is coupled with an increasing recognition in the United States that South Asia and Afghanistan are, in fact, a critical -- should be a critical focus of the administration and are a critical forefront of the war on terrorism, but as well as a symbol of U.S. commitment to help countries develop economically and achieve political stability.
The same way our NATO partners and non-NATO partners are looking toward the new administration to help develop a strategy that will be based on the aspirations of the Afghan people and that will have the support of the international community. And this strategy also needs to incorporate a multilateral engagement, multilateral framework for Pakistan.
Most critically I would argue the Afghan people still reject the Taliban. Their aspiration still is an Afghanistan that is free of oppressive armed groups, warlords, and criminals, and that is capable of satisfying their elemental economic needs.
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