A blunt warning sent by US President Barack Obama in November 2009, prompted Pakistan to go after the Afghan Taliban leadership, and is being cited as the turning point in the strategic relationship between the two countries.
According to the Washington Post, Obama's letter was hand-delivered by US National Security Adviser James L Jones. Obama offered Pakistan military and economic aid and also offered to help ease tensions with India.
Obama said in his letter that Washington would no longer tolerate Pakistan's use of insurgent groups to pursue its policy goals. The letter's delivery followed the completion of a White House strategy review in which the administration concluded that stepped-up efforts in Afghanistan would not succeed without improved cooperation from Pakistan.
The recent capture of senior Afghan Taliban leaders in Pakistan represents the culmination of months of pressure put on Islamabad by the Obama administration to side with the United States as its troops wage war in Afghanistan. The detentions, which have taken place in a wave since early last week, were initially kept secret to allow intelligence operatives to use information gleaned from captures to draw additional militants into exposing their locations and movements, according to officials who discussed the ongoing operations on the condition of anonymity.
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