Democratic Senator Jack Reed, a key congressional voice on security affairs, has applauded notable improvement in the situation in Pakistan in the wake of the countrys anti-militant campaign in its northwestern regions. Reed, accompanied by colleagues including the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Carl Levin, a Democrat from Michigan, and Senator Ted Kauman of Delaware, traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan in the last several days. The lawmaker, who has been serving on both Armed Services and Appropriations committees, cited a 'successful operation that Pakistani forces carried out against Taliban militants in the Swat Valley, a Rhode Island journal news report said. Reed, who met with top Pakistani leadership including President Asif Ali Zardari, also acknowledged a 'growing sense the Pakistani leaders have developed that actions against militants in the border regions are important to their countrys own national security, not just Afghanistans or Americas.