Oh my God, Tony Blair figured something out all by himself? I can't imagine GWB whispering this into his puppet's ear...
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair said military force alone cannot defeat terrorism, acknowledging Sunday that solving the Mideast crisis was key to curbing violent extremism.
Pakistan's pro-U.S. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf admitted local militants were aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Sunday's meeting between the two leaders, crucial players in the U.S.-led war on terror, led to the signing of security, aid and education packages aimed at promoting a moderate brand of Islam and preventing Pakistan becoming a haven for extremists bent on attacking Western interests.
Blair's visit comes amid increased Taliban violence in Afghanistan, where 36 British soldiers have died this year.
In Pakistan, pro-Taliban and al Qaeda militants have been waging bloody attacks on Pakistani soldiers in semiautonomous tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
Britain and its allies are supplementing the U.S.-led military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq with increased help for reconstruction projects, and a new impetus to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Blair said.
"We begin to win when we start fighting properly, and I think we are now fighting properly -- but we have got to do more," Blair told reporters in the eastern Pakistan city of Lahore, in an apparent acknowledgment that a previous military-only strategy would not win moderate Muslims' support.
"What we have to realize is that where there are people standing up for a different way forward, we have to back them," Blair said.
His comments followed an interview Friday with Al-Jazeera's English-language channel, in which he appeared to agree with broadcaster David Frost's claim that operations in Iraq had "been pretty much of a disaster."
His office said Blair had made a "straightforward slip of the tongue," and had only "half-listened" to Frost's question. (Full story)
Source: Blair: Force alone can't beat terrorism - CNN.com
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