Evaluating Progress in Afghanistan-Pakistan0

• SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

The Obama administration’s draft metrics for Afghanistan and Pakistan, as obtained by Foreign Policy.

SEPTEMBER 16, 2009

The goal of the United States is to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qa’ida in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future.

Background: During his March 27, 2009 speech announcing our new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, President Obama said “going forward, we will not blindly stay the course. Instead, we will set clear metrics to measure progress and hold ourselves accountable.” This paper outlines a process to fulfill that directive. The intent is to use this assessment process to highlight both positive and negative trends and issues that may call for policy adjustments over time.

Agreed Metrics: The supporting objectives of the Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy form the framework for evaluating progress. The indicators within each of the objectives represent a mix of quantitative and qualitative measures, intended to capture objective and subjective assessments.

Common Baseline: The ODNI provided a baseline assessment of the metrics on July 17, 2009 from which progress will be measured; this is our common start point.

Process: By March 30, 2010 and on regular intervals thereafter, the interagency will draft an assessment of progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan. As a check and balance on the interagency, a separate assessment will also be produced by a Red Team, led by the National Intelligence Council.

Objective 1. Disrupt terrorist networks in Afghanistan and especially Pakistan to degrade any ability they have to plan and launch international terrorist attacks.

Metrics: Please see the attached classified annex.

What the Pakistani people would tell Obama

Email Picture

Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

A girl runs through a Peshawar camp for Pakistanis displaced by fighting in the surrounding areas between the army and Taliban militants.

‘Everyday people’ interviewed on the street cite deadly drone attacks and the struggles of the poor as their top concerns. Obama is to meet with the presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan this week.

By Mark Magnier
May 5, 2009

Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan — Many Pakistanis welcomed the election of President Obama as an opportunity for some fresh thinking about their troubled region.

But the honeymoon hasn’t lasted long. As Obama prepares to meet with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai this week in Washington, Pakistanis from different walks of life say they’d give the U.S. leader an earful if they, rather than their president, had a seat at the White House table.