WASHINGTON - In a shift with profound implications, the Bush administration is attempting to re-energize its terrorism-fighting war efforts in Afghanistan, the original target of a post-Sept. 11 offensive. The U.S. also is refocusing on Pakistan, where a regenerating al-Qaeda is posing fresh threats.
Privately, some senior U.S. military commanders say Pakistan’s tribal areas are at the center of the fight against Islamic extremism; more so than Iraq, or even Afghanistan. These areas border on eastern Afghanistan and provide haven for al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters to regroup, rearm and reorganize. That may explain the administration’s increasingly public expressions of concern.
At a Pentagon news conference last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. respects the Pakistani government’s right to decide what actions are taken on its soil, but there are reasons to worry al-Qaeda poses more than an internal threat to Pakistan.
I think we are all concerned about the re-establishment of al-Qaeda safe havens in the border area,” Gates said. “I think it would be unrealistic to assume that all of the planning that they’re doing is focused strictly on Pakistan. So I think that that is a continuing threat to Europe as well as to us.”
The Pentagon says it has fewer than 100 troops in Pakistan, including personnel who are training Pakistan’s paramilitary Frontier Corps along the Afghanistan border. In recent days, administration officials have said they would send more U.S. forces, including small numbers of combat troops, if the Pakistani government agrees to collaborate more closely.
http://military-world.net/Afghanistan/104.html
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