North Waziristan and the U.S. Strategy for Afghanistan

U.S. and Pakistani officials have been intensely negotiating the reopening of a NATO supply route that has been closed for almost six months. On May 14, Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said Pakistan needed to close the supply route to make a point, but Islamabad is now ready to move forward. Washington welcomed her comments but cautioned that the two sides are still working on a deal. 

After months of hard bargaining a new agreement will probably lead to the reopening of the supply route. The agreement will not resolve every issue, especially since Pakistan wants to redefine the nature of its cooperation with the United States on Afghan security. Pakistan will continue to demand that Washington end its unilateral unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) strikes, which largely target militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan. Pakistan could use the U.S.-Taliban negotiations to extract concessions from the United States on this issue.