Fear of losing drove US raid
WASHINGTON: The United States decision to mount a ground strike inside Pakistan last week reflected fears that terrorists were winning the war against the US-led forces.
A quieter Iraq and a power shift in Islamabad also helped open the way for more US strikes in the mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan, home to Taliban terrorists and Al Qaeda leaders believed to be plotting new attacks against the West.
“There is no doubt the US patience with Pakistan is running short,” said Andrew McGregor, terrorism editor at the Jamestown Foundation security think tank.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen said this week, “I’m not convinced we are winning it in Afghanistan. I am convinced we can.” “Frankly, we’re running out of time,” he told a congressional committee.
Sponsors: A senior US official said that the US military had the right to go after sponsors of cross-border attacks, while a senior Pakistani official suggested the US military had misinterpreted complex rules.
“What you’re seeing is an increased activity (by) our troops taking our rules of engagement to them (terrorists in Afghanistan),” the US official said on Tuesday. However, the Pakistani official said, “There are certain circumstances in which a special operation might be required to go arrest someone, but that can’t easily be done in the Tribal Areas.”
A defence analyst involved in discussions with the Bush administration said there was wide concern over Afghanistan nearly seven years after the invasion routed the Taliban government and drove out Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda.
“For the first time since 2002, the US government across-the-board, from the Pentagon to the State Department to the CIA to the White House, share very serious concerns about the direction Afghanistan is going in,” said the analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Former president Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf’s drawn-out resignation, and his replacement by Asif Ali Zardari, has hampered the Pakistan government’s ability to fight terrorists, US officials and analysts said. The Pakistani government had also been unable to sever ties between the military intelligence service, the ISI, with the terrorists, analysts said. A diplomat in Washington, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said personnel changes taking place in Pakistan’s intelligence service would satisfy Washington.
Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate in the November 4 US presidential election, has long called for shifting troops from Iraq and said he would be willing to attack Al Qaeda inside Pakistan without its approval.
His Republican opponent John McCain has also supported sending more troops to Afghanistan and has urged more US-Pakistani co-operation to crush terrorists.
Bush is nearing the end of a presidency largely defined by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Both remain unfinished, although this year has seen a marked improvement in security in Iraq. Progress against the terrorists in Afghanistan, which depends on clamping down on Pakistan’s safe havens, could bolster Bush’s legacy, said Bruce Buchanan, professor at the University of Texas. reuters
Daily Times
A quieter Iraq and a power shift in Islamabad also helped open the way for more US strikes in the mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan, home to Taliban terrorists and Al Qaeda leaders believed to be plotting new attacks against the West.
“There is no doubt the US patience with Pakistan is running short,” said Andrew McGregor, terrorism editor at the Jamestown Foundation security think tank.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen said this week, “I’m not convinced we are winning it in Afghanistan. I am convinced we can.” “Frankly, we’re running out of time,” he told a congressional committee.
Sponsors: A senior US official said that the US military had the right to go after sponsors of cross-border attacks, while a senior Pakistani official suggested the US military had misinterpreted complex rules.
“What you’re seeing is an increased activity (by) our troops taking our rules of engagement to them (terrorists in Afghanistan),” the US official said on Tuesday. However, the Pakistani official said, “There are certain circumstances in which a special operation might be required to go arrest someone, but that can’t easily be done in the Tribal Areas.”
A defence analyst involved in discussions with the Bush administration said there was wide concern over Afghanistan nearly seven years after the invasion routed the Taliban government and drove out Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda.
“For the first time since 2002, the US government across-the-board, from the Pentagon to the State Department to the CIA to the White House, share very serious concerns about the direction Afghanistan is going in,” said the analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Former president Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf’s drawn-out resignation, and his replacement by Asif Ali Zardari, has hampered the Pakistan government’s ability to fight terrorists, US officials and analysts said. The Pakistani government had also been unable to sever ties between the military intelligence service, the ISI, with the terrorists, analysts said. A diplomat in Washington, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said personnel changes taking place in Pakistan’s intelligence service would satisfy Washington.
Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate in the November 4 US presidential election, has long called for shifting troops from Iraq and said he would be willing to attack Al Qaeda inside Pakistan without its approval.
His Republican opponent John McCain has also supported sending more troops to Afghanistan and has urged more US-Pakistani co-operation to crush terrorists.
Bush is nearing the end of a presidency largely defined by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Both remain unfinished, although this year has seen a marked improvement in security in Iraq. Progress against the terrorists in Afghanistan, which depends on clamping down on Pakistan’s safe havens, could bolster Bush’s legacy, said Bruce Buchanan, professor at the University of Texas. reuters
Daily Times
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