Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff general Joseph Dunford has said that the U.S. cannot win the war in Afghanistan without securing cooperation from Pakistan. Pakistan would be a key element of Washington’s new strategy for South Asia, he said. Meanwhile, general Tony Thomas who leads special operations command has said that the leader of Al-Qaeda terror network is hiding in the border regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to Dunford, experiences achieved over the past years indicate that Washington will not be able to win the war in Afghanistan without Pakistan’s support. “So we’re in the midst — I think it has been referred to this week — we’re in the midst of a review, and it’s not an Afghan review, it’s a South Asia review. And what I would — the short answer to your question, is that we should only provide more capability on the ground if it’s in the context of a broader strategy that has a chance of being successful. And so I do believe that additional forces for the Afghan security forces would make them more competitive,” Dunford said. On the deployment of additional U.S forces to Afghanistan, Dunford said that the deployment of additional troops in Afghanistan will help the conventional forces combat the insurgenets with more power.
US cannot win war in Afghanistan without Pakistan: US General