Lesson to learn

AFGHAN Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta's observation that the battle against insurgents in Afghanistan must be taken to its "breeding ground" in Pakistan is in line with President Hamid Karzai's policy of passing the buck onto Islamabad for his government's failure to curb terrorism in his country. The comment coincided with the US drones attack in Miranshah on Monday, fourth in the latest series of cross-border strikes, that left 20 people killed and many others injured. Mr Spanta, who is in Berlin for talks with his German counterpart, told journalists that the ideological and military training camps for extremists active in Afghanistan were in the mountains of Pakistan, and "we need to stop that. We must not give them a chance to use terror as an instrument of foreign policy." It is no surprise to see him indulge in a vicious blame game. After all, he represents Mr Karzai, whose utterances are often found to disobey any diplomatic norm.