The new Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari was sworn into office Tuesday. In his speech he promised to join the War on Terror and crack down on terrorist cells in his own country. Sitting in at the acceptance speech was the Afghan President Hamid Karzai who had previously accused Pakistan of not doing enough to fight terrorism and the taliban who was working up and down their common boarder. However after the acceptance speech Karzai had nothing but positive to say,"For each step that you take in the war against terrorism for bringing peace to two countries, for bringing stability to two countries, Afghanistan will take many, many steps with you,"(The Associated Press: Zardari sworn in as Pakistan's new president.)
President Bush also made positive comments about the acceptance speech as well. He congratulated the new president and the country on their position against terrorism and terrorists."Defeating these terrorists and extremists is in Pakistan's interest," Bush said in a speech at the National Defense University. "They pose a mortal threat to Pakistan's future as a free and democratic nation. Defeating these terrorists and extremists is also Pakistan's responsibility because every nation has an obligation to govern its own territory and make certain that it does not become a safe haven for terror."(The Associated Press: Zardari sworn in as Pakistan's new president)
I think that this development in the Pakistani government is very good for their country, the United States, and the rest of the world. The fact that we have one more government in the Middle East that declares war on terrorism is good for everyone. Now the only thing is to watch and see exactly how they decide to go about it, and if they even will. If they do follow up on their war on terror we could start to see a Middle East that is no longer defined by terrorism. This will also help to fight the taliban now that both countries are on the same page and cooperating, "We want greater cooperation, we want greater sharing of information, intelligence sharing, so that we put an end to the blame game," (Pakistani and Afghan leaders eye new ties | International | Reuters) Perhaps the Middle East has a silver lining after all.
