Is Trump Ready to Dump Pakistan?

As U.S. ambassador to Pakistan more than a decade ago, Ryan Crocker spent much of his time trying to convince the government in Islamabad to take action against militants moving freely inside the country and plotting attacks on U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

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A little over a year ago, the Trump administration resumed CIA drone strikes on Afghan Taliban and Haqqani extremists in Pakistan after a 10-month lull. The first raid struck a motorcycle near the Afghan border, reportedly killing an Afghan Taliban leader. But the tempo has been sporadic, with 12 bombing raids since Trump took office, according to a tally by the Long War Journal.

Under Obama, the drone strikes in Pakistan, which targeted mainly al Qaeda leaders, reached a peak in 2010 with an estimated 117 bombing raids. As al Qaeda’s core leadership was weakened and dispersed, and as a large U.S. force began to draw down in Afghanistan, the strikes — which were carried out with Pakistan’s quiet cooperation — dwindled and then tapered off completely in his final months as president.

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