Pentagon and CIA: Authorized For Secret Ops In Pakistan
WASHINGTON: An Al Qaeda resurgence in
US military chief Admiral Michael Mullen last week expressed “grave concern” over Al Qaeda’s use of the Pakistani tribal areas as safe havens, saying they posed a “significant” security threat to
Also from the vast tribal region in northwestern
Underscoring US concerns of the Al Qaeda buildup are reports that President Bush’s administration is mulling a plan in which the Pentagon and CIA would be granted new authority to conduct secret operations in the area.
The plan was discussed by Vice President Richard Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and top White House national security aides on the first week of 2008 when they met at the White House to reassess
But President Pervez Musharraf, who it said has not been briefed about the plan, has warned that an unauthorised
“The best way to do that (address the threat), I think, is working with the Pakistanis at the local level and also being transparent with the Pakistani government but at the same time, we cannot wait,” said Henry Crumpton, a former counterterrorism chief at the State Department.
“I think we have waited too long in terms of engagement in that area, Crumpton said at a forum of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies on Monday.
US urged to support democracy in Pakistan, not individuals
* Cutting assistance can backfire: Brian Katulis
* Fair elections will stabilise Pakistan: Lisa Curtis
Well, the timing is priceless. Deciding to go after Osama Bin Laden at this late date is a pretty sad. After thousands of American soldiers, private contractors and civilian deaths caused by the distraction of Iraq, the wandering eye of this administration finally remembers what the original goal was. Oh yeah! We were once determined to seek and destroy the ‘perpetrators’ of 9/11. Whoever they were. Bin Laden has always been in the mountains of Pakistan, protected by very loyal followers. Even Bhutto let it slip that he may already be dead. Victims of these wars include, the original deaths and injuries from the attacks, the soldiers sent into harms way, the unfortunates who happened to be in between ‘coalition’ guns and the enemy, and the millions of displaced families. Victims include the families of the fallen on both sides. Victims include the caretakers of the twisted minds that return to their homes with vacant stares, horrible nightmares and destroyed coping ability. Vice President Richard Cheney and his collaborators have decided to return to the original mission to seek out Bin Laden. After destroying two nations, they decide that Al Qaeda must be destroyed as soon as “accurate intelligence” is available. Its just a matter of time before “accurate intelligence” will be provided and the destruction of Pakistan will be next. Pakistan is very fragile right now. It wants democracy, but not American interference. It wants it own government to provide security, not an occupation/invasion force with the track record of the US destruction. Pakistan is torn between Islamic fundamentalists and progressive autonomy. US intervention would upset any progressive hopes, because it would strengthen the religious hardliners. If Cheney and his collaborators succeed in manufacturing a terror crisis, there may be no new American President … elections could be suspended. This is what the National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directives NSPD 51 and HSPD-20 have provided, continuity of Federal Government .
