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03-03-2007, 14:14 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Navajo Code Talker
Senior Contributor
Join Date: 12-27-04
Location: Patiala, India
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US senators call for direct strike inside Pakistan: Pressure tactics may trigger Mush
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US senators call for direct strike inside Pakistan: Pressure tactics may trigger Musharraf’s ouster: ambassador
WASHINGTON, March 2: Members of the US Senate have urged the Bush administration to launch military strikes at alleged Al Qaeda targets inside Pakistan, prompting the Pakistani envoy in Washington to warn that such an attitude could bring down the present set-up in Islamabad.
Senior Pentagon officials added fuel to the fire by claiming that their troops have already targeted Taliban and Al Qaeda sites inside Pakistan and that they have an agreement that allows them to do so.
Senator Carl Levin, Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the panel would press the Defence and State departments to consider taking military action against alleged Al Qaeda camps inside Pakistan if they learn that attacks inside Afghanistan have been planned at these sites.
"It's a critically important point, and I think we've got to insist, on this issue, that we be given a clear answer," Mr Levin said.
Lt-Gen Douglas Lute, chief operations officer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, however, told the committee US soldiers could target terrorist sites inside Pakistan if there’s an imminent threat.
“We have all the authorities we need to pursue, either with (artillery) fire or on the ground, across the border,” he said.
“If just across the border, inside Pakistan, we have surveillance systems that detect a Taliban party setting up a rocket system which is obviously pointed west, into Afghanistan, we do not have to wait for the rockets to be fired. They have demonstrated hostile intent and we can engage them,” Lt-Gen Lute said.
Retired US Marine Gen. James Jones, former top Nato operational commander in Afghanistan, also told the panel that forces under the US command called Operation Enduring Freedom have a legal right to strike across the border.
"That mission, everybody agrees, could be done," he said.
Lt-Gen Lute, however, clarified that they would have to seek the Pakistan government's permission to go after a munitions factory further inside the Pakistani border.
Pakistan remained the target throughout the debate, with both Democrat and Republican senators claiming that the country is either unwilling or unable to prevent the Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgents from establishing camps inside the tribal zone.
Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama said that if international laws allowed US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the same laws could be applied to take actions against Al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuaries inside Pakistan.
Democratic Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana said that the Pakistani leaders “need to contemplate which is harder for them -- acting to do something about this, or us acting to do something about this."
Senior US defence officials present at the hearing did little to stop the tirade against Pakistan, a country the administration describes as a close ally in the war against terror.
Instead, they complained that the North Waziristan deal has led to an increase in cross-border attacks, and joined the lawmakers in urging Pakistan to do more to address the problem.
Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Eric Edelman said the agreement led to “an almost immediate and steady increase” in cross-border infiltration and attacks.
"We've expressed, over a period of time, directly to President Musharraf and to others our scepticism and reservations about the agreement,” he said.
Mr Edelman indicated that recent visits to Islamabad by Vice-President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Robert Gates were also aimed at persuading Pakistan to do more.
"There's no question that that sanctuary exists, and that it's a major asset for the Taliban,” said Lt-Gen Lute.
The only person who spoke for Pakistan was the committee's former chairman, now senior Republican Party member John Warner.
“I think under the leadership of Musharraf, they're doing the best they can, but the realities are there's fragility in the political system in Pakistan," he explained.
Senator Warner said the situation would be much worse for the United States and its allies if Islamists came to power in Pakistan.
In an interview to a Western news agency, Pakistan’s envoy in Washington, Mahmud Ali Durrani, also warned that such pressure tactics could destabilise Pakistan and may even bring down President Musharraf.
Asked if it might trigger President Musharraf's ouster, he replied: "I don't know. Possibly it could bring him down. It could destabilise the whole country. It could cause mega problems there. That is possible."
"What I'm worried about today more than anything else is this unhinging of the cooperative relationship... In this very critical field of (cooperation on) counter-terrorist operations, there seems to be a problem. We need to fix it," Ambassador Durrani told Reuters.
The hostility against Pakistan is so strong that even the capture of senior Taliban leader Mullah Obaidullah did not help reduce the criticism.
Some media outlets pointed out that Pakistan only captures a major terrorist leader when there’s pressure, which justifies Washington’s current policy of continuing its pressure on Islamabad.
US senators call for direct strike inside Pakistan: Pressure tactics may trigger Musharraf’s ouster: ambassador -DAWN - Top Stories; March 03, 2007
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Hmm... seems like US loosing patience...
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03-03-2007, 14:20 PM
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#2 (permalink)
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Postmaster General
Military Professional
Join Date: 08-20-03
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Musharraf can keep a brave face as he trots out nationalist rhetoric.
But the cat is out of the bag.
The US does not require Pakistan's permission to take action against 'hostile intentions' observed by spy satellites!
Too bad.
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03-04-2007, 01:03 AM
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#4 (permalink)
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Patron
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tronic
Hmm... seems like US loosing patience...
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...then again Pak seems to be getting defensive and pretending American pursuit deep into Pak territory is not happening?
indianexpress.com
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Pakistan: No Entry for Coalition Troops
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan vehemently denied Saturday the U.S. military's claim that coalition forces in Afghanistan have the authority to pursue Taliban fleeing across the border into Pakistani territory.
"There is no authorization for hot pursuit of terrorists into our territory," Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, spokesman for the Pakistan Army, told The Associated Press on Saturday. "Whatever actions are needed to fight terrorism, we are taking them."
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry rejected an assertion by Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, chief operations officer for the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, that his forces routinely fire on and pursue Taliban into Pakistan.
"No foreign forces are allowed to cross into our territorial border," said Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam. "Pakistan and United States are partners in the war on terror - not adversaries."
Aslam's and Arshad's comments came two days after Lute told the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington that "we have all the authorities we need to pursue, either with (artillery) fire or on the ground, across the border."
Lute provided a detailed description of when U.S. forces can fire on and pursue insurgents across the border into the Islamic nation of Pakistan, an important ally of the U.S. in its campaign against terrorism.
However, Lute did not elaborate on whether there were restrictions on how deep into Pakistan his soldiers could go. He said the decision is based not on distance, but on the immediacy of the threat involved.
Pakistan used to be a main supporter of Afghanistan's former Taliban regime, but it switched sides after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Its forces have since arrested at least 700 al-Qaida and Taliban.
But there is growing international pressure on Pakistan to crackdown further on Taliban militants on its side of the border, a message delivered on Monday by Vice President Dick Cheney during a visit to Islamabad.
In Kabul on Saturday, Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta told members of Parliament that Pakistan uses terror as its foreign policy and that the international community should not reward Pakistan with aid.
"Pakistan shouldn't use terror as its foreign policy," he said. "I wish that the international community wouldn't give rewards to countries that are supporting the Taliban."
Afghan officials frequently accuse Pakistani leaders of harboring Taliban fighters and commanders, though Pakistan insists it does all it can to fight terrorism. Pakistan has deployed about 80,000 troops near Afghanistan, where al-Qaida and Taliban remnants are believed to be hiding.
Nisar A. Memon, chairman of the Pakistani Senate's Standing Committee on Defense, said his country alone would take action against militants on its side of the border, but that Afghanistan should do more from its territory.
"Pakistan has contributed more than any other country to the successes in the fight against terrorism and extremism," he said. "On the Afghanistan side, there is equal responsibility of the coalition and Afghan forces to stop undesirable elements from crossing into our territory."
During his trip, Cheney had expressed concern to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf over al-Qaida regrouping inside Pakistan's tribal regions and an expected Taliban spring offensive in neighboring Afghanistan.
Shortly after Cheney's visit, Pakistani intelligence officials said that Pakistani agents - during a raid in the southwestern city of Quetta - captured the Taliban's former defense minister Mullah Obaidullah Akhund.
Pakistan so far has not officially confirmed Akhund's arrest, although individuals with knowledge of Pakistani intelligence workings say the man was being questioned near the capital, Islamabad. Akhund is said to be a key associate of fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
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A real humiliation for Pak govt. Imagine cops having un-restricted access to search your house and that too barge open washrooms without knocking. |
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03-04-2007, 02:02 AM
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#5 (permalink)
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Military Professional
Join Date: 03-02-07
Location: Ningbo, China
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Great news!
What! Democrats are actually advocating tough measures for victory?!  Why would they do this? They've never done it before. I, for one, think this is great news, and that we shouldn't waste anymore time. I mean, let's be honest: Pakistan would be hardpressed to stop us. It would make it look like they were supporting terrorists-they wouldn't want that, would they? 
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03-04-2007, 04:15 AM
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#6 (permalink)
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Military Professional
Join Date: 07-22-05
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If Pak has lost control in the Tribal areas, then why can't others attempt to restore normalcy there 
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