PAKISTAN AND THE TALIBAN

With military officials warning of a resurgence of the Taliban this spring, President Bush is seeking an additional $10 billion for Afghanistan. More money and more troops won’t root out the Taliban without neighboring Pakistan ending its support, tacit or otherwise, for the militant religious group. U.S. lawmakers should insist that the additional money for Afghanistan be coupled with increased pressure on Pakistan, the third largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, to ensure it is not helping the Taliban.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, last week, said the administration planned to ask Congress for $10.6 billion in aid for Afghanistan to assist the country in building up its security forces. At the same time, the Pentagon announced that a brigade of the 10th Mountain Division would stay in Afghanistan for up to four months longer than planned. Keeping the 3,200-soldier brigade in Afghanistan will bring to 24,000 the number of U.S. troops there. About the same number of NATO soldiers are also in Afghanistan.

Of the funds the president seeks, nearly $9 billion would go toward training and equipping Afghan security forces and building up the country’s national army and local police forces. The rest of the money would be used for reconstruction projects such as road building and electricity projects.

Like Iraq, where the president has pledged to send another 21,500 American soldiers despite the objections of Congress, more manpower has long been needed in Afghanistan. In both countries, however, quelling the violence will take more than military intervention and funding for reconstruction work.

New York Times correspondent Carlotta Gall recently reported that religious and tribal leaders in the loosely governed border region of Pakistan were supporting the Taliban. Several families said their sons had been recruited for and died in suicide bombing missions in Afghanistan. At the end of Ms. Gall’s five days of reporting around Quetta, Pakistani intelligence officials broke into her hotel room and took her notes, computer and cell phone. She was punched and knocked to the floor. Her photographer’s equipment was seized. Although the equipment was returned, all the people Ms. Gall interviewed were later visited by intelligence agents, she reported.

Western diplomats have long said the Pakistani intelligence service is supporting the Taliban, in part because concerns about violence along the border allow it to exercise greater control there.

U.S. officials have touted Pakistan’s support for the war on terror. As they seek to combat an expected Taliban offensive, they should ensure Pakistan isn’t undermining the effort.