
Pakistan's ex-cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan, top left, addresses supporters during a peace march in Mianwali, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012. Photo: AP Photo/Jabbar Ahmed
Originally published on CFR.org:
Imran Khan, a former cricket star-turned-politician, led a two-day march last weekend that focused new attention on U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan. For Joshua Foust, a fellow at the American Security Project and regular Need to Know contributor, the march demonstrates how Khan,who is running for prime minister as head of the party Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), is exploiting public anger over U.S. drone strikes. Foust questions Khan’s silence on the subject of the Pakistani Taliban, especially in light of Tuesday’s shooting of teen activist Malala Yousufzai. “It’s important to remember that the Taliban were rampaging in Pakistan before there were drones,” he says.
Foust sat down with the Council on Foreign Relations to discuss the still-fraught relationship between the United States and Pakistan. Ultimately, Foust argues that we need “to shift to a more collaborative system, where the U.S. actively engages in target selection and ultimately target neutralization with the Pakistani government.”
Read the full conversation here.