Today's AfPak round-up:
Washington names Al Qaeda in Pakistan top terror threat. The U.S. government's annual terror report also calls Al Qaeda affiliates in Africa leading threats to American security, while singling out Iran as the most world's active "state sponsor of terror." The report says that, while terrorist attacks globally have fallen to their lowest level in five years, Al Qaeda's leadership remains "resilient and adaptable." [BBC]
Spokesman: Pentagon could "compel" WikiLeaks to stop releasing documents. With WikiLeaks preparing to release around 15,000 more classified documents related to the Afghan war, Defense Department spokesman Geoff Morell warned that "if doing the right thing is not good enough for them, then we will figure out what alternatives we have to compel them to do the right thing." Apparently in an effort to deter the Pentagon from acting against it, WikiLeaks recently posted an encrypted file labeled "Insurance," which is 20 times larger than its original Afghan leak—the file could be the full set of 260,000 diplomatic cables supplied by Spc. Bradley Manning, cables he says show "almost criminal political back dealings." [Christian Science Monitor]
British troops in Afghanistan: "We try to help them ... but it just seems pointless."
According to this report by the Guardian's Sean Smith, British troops are frustrated with Afghans' lack of interest in "the bigger picture." "They're only interested in their little crop of land, and their children, and their compound. What happens 1000 meters away is totally irrelevant to them," says one soldier. "They don't even want to help themselves, so it just seems pointless," says another, adding "they just seem to be rather left alone, left to their own devices." [Guardian]
Britain, Pakistan paper over tensions. British Prime Minister David Cameron, a week after claiming that Pakistan "exports terror," lauded the "unbreakable relationship between Britain and Pakistan based on our mutual interests" after meeting with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari in London. Zardari, for his part, told reporters that "Pakistan and Britain will stand together... and we will make sure the world is a better place for our coming generations." [Reuters]