US 'must target Pakistan havens'

[Faryal Shah]

US 'must target Pakistan havens'

The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff has called for a new strategy in Afghanistan to deny militants bases across the border in Pakistan.

Speaking on the eve of the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Admiral Mike Mullen called for a military strategy that covered both sides of the border.

The US must work closely with Pakistan to "eliminate [the enemy's] safe havens", he told Congress.

But Pakistan insists it will not allow foreign forces onto its territory.

"There is no question of any agreement or understanding with the coalition forces whereby they are allowed to conduct operations on our side of the border," Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, said.

Pakistan's top military commanders are meeting in Rawalpindi, and high on the agenda is thought to be a ground assault by coalition forces in South Waziristan on 4 September, which Pakistan says killed more than a dozen civilians.

In an interview with the BBC, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi said such attacks were unproductive and alienated the local population.

'Inextricably linked'

Adm Mullen's call for a new strategy came a day after US President George Bush announced that about 4,500 extra US troops would be sent to Afghanistan by February 2009, bolstering the 33,000 currently stationed in the country.


Adm Mullen told the House Armed Services Committee he was not convinced the US was winning in Afghanistan and that a new strategy was needed to address the issue of militants in Pakistan.

"In my view, these two nations are inextricably linked in a common insurgency that crosses the border between them," he said.

"We can hunt down and kill extremists as they cross over the border from Pakistan... but until we work more closely with the Pakistani government to eliminate the safe havens from which they operate, the enemy will only keep coming."

Adm Mullen conceded the challenge was great, pointing to Afghanistan's drugs and economic problems, and the "significant political uncertainty" in Pakistan.

James Glassman, a senior US diplomat, told the BBC the US was "trying to help to fight these forces that threaten the very existence of a democratic country in Pakistan".

"I think the world would be a much, much less safe place… if we were simply to abandon Pakistan and stop helping the Pakistanis defend themselves," he said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has supported this stance, saying Pakistan needs international help to tackle the problem of Taleban enclaves in its tribal areas.

Mr Karzai told the BBC that Afghanistan had asked for help from the international community to combat terrorism, and said Pakistan should do the same.

'More assertive'

The New York Times newspaper reported on Wednesday that President George Bush had approved orders in July to allow US Special Operations forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without Pakistani approval.

"The situation in the tribal areas is not tolerable," an unnamed senior US official told the newspaper. "We have to be more assertive. Orders have been given."

But a surge of US attacks in Pakistan's border region over the past week has prompted outrage from Pakistan's government and army.

Now stating it as a strategy will only add to the pressure on Pakistan's new President, Asif Ali Zardari, as he grapples with the militants, the BBC's James Coomarasamy reports from Washington.

The White House said on Wednesday that the failure to capture al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden showed the limitations of US military and intelligence operations.

On the eve of the seventh anniversary of 9/11, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said President Bush would have liked to see the al-Qaeda leader brought to justice, but that the US authorities did not have "super-powers".

In another development, Canada confirmed its troops would leave Afghanistan by 2011.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Wednesday that his nation - which suffered significant losses in Afghanistan in recent years - had no appetite for keeping its troops on in Afghanistan past a 2011 deadline imposed in March by parliament.

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7609073.stm

[ammar7860]

ya it is true but i blame only pakistani government.
it is just a serious weakness of pakistani government. government close his eyes and whatever the nato miliatary doing they can done. this is reallay a seriuos issue must pakistani population think about it.

[Hina 11(MISS Einstein)]

the situations which r going nowadays and the views of US high officials shows that there will b attack on PAKISTAN,(GOD forbid),though in the name of the same "war on terror".

wt will b then the fate of pakistan and its people?
where its sovereignty thn will b?
same acts and actions had already been done with IRAQ and AFGHAN......

WILL V B ABLE TO STOP THEM AS OUR COAS z detemined to do so as not to let any1 to interfere in our internal matters??

[bravo_99]

we should gird up lions and face america with unity....the only way to come out of this problem is unity...

[whjanwari]

I think the pakistan army and intelligence should work with US forces along with CIA and other intelligence to dismantle the terrorist in those critical areas of pakistan rather than a US unilateral attack .US should take army,political forces and the people of pakistan in confidence,they should come up with an organized plan to launch a mission to root out these terrorists.We cannot let these mullah miscreants to take over pakistan.Pakistan army has been reluctant to act on these areas and all the jirgas have miserably failed.These terrorists are working against the pakistani govt and the people of pakistan as well, we cannot let them hurt the sovereignty of pakistan.I am glad to see Kayani taking an strict action against the unilater attack of USA,we should cooperate and root out these terrorist.We are aware of the fact that in these situations there will be civilian casualties which is inevitable.


Regards

WHJ

[Princess Royal]

This is too much!!! Beyond what can be tolerated.

Osama! Osama! Osama! What if he is already dead? On what basis can these americans say that al-qaeda is hiding in Pakistan? First, Afghanistan, then Iraq and now Pakistan. This is all crap. America itself is the biggest terrorist and the one contributing to spread more terrorism in the world! America has killed thousands of innocent people in Afghanistan and Iraq just for the sake of finding one man -Osama. Is that what 'a war against terrorism' called? To kill innocent people? To attack on others land without their permission?

And what is our government doing? Why are they not taking any serious actions? Do they want Pakistan to become another Afghanistan or Iraq? HUH! All they love and live for is money. May be they don't realise what it is like to be independent with our own land and that is why they all turn into American Puppets! How can they let anyone to make attacks on our land? Fine, even if there are any terrorists hiding in Pakistan then it's we who should take actions rather then allowing others to interfere in our matters and kill our innocent people.

May Allah protect my country, ameen. The only hope!

[miracle]

I think so far jiss ki lathi uss ki bhens wala hisab chal raha hae....but Pakistani goverment has to decide upon a strategy very soon to counter nato forces else her own sovereignity will be compromised.

[4rm psh]

Americans cant even justify their ACT OF STATE TERRORISM,by taking shelter behind the international law of HOT PERSUIT.cleary the rule is inapplicable in ASAMAs case.

[Almaas Ruby]

what about the possibility of Osama's presence in "veil" in USA??????
and Bush just seeking excuses to target the muslim world?????????

it could be a possibility,,isnt it???