Pakistan next? US won't rule out force in Pakistan

[radfringe]

US won't rule out force in Pakistan
Push against Al Qaeda may backfire, some say
Boston Globe - 1 hour ago
By John Donnelly, Globe Staff | July 23, 2007
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2007/07/23/us_wont_rule_out_force_in_pakistan


WASHINGTON -- President Bush's homeland security adviser said yesterday that the United States was prepared to take additional measures, including military force, to curb Al Qaeda's operations in remote regions of Pakistan.

"Job No. 1 is to protect the American people. There are no options off the table," said Fran Townsend, the White House aide, adding, "No question that we will use any instrument at our disposal" to deal with Al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden.

While Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, agreed with that approach, Pakistan's foreign minister criticized any possible US military intervention as counterproductive, saying it would further alienate the Pakistani public against the United States.

"Let the United States provide us with actionable intelligence and you will find that Pakistan will never be lacking," Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri said earlier yesterday, responding to comments made by Townsend late last week. "Pakistan's army can do the job much better and the result will be that there will be far less collateral damage."

--snip--

Townsend emphasized that the United States wants to work closely with Musharraf, but she indicated that the Bush administration would be ready to take additional measures if necessary.

--snip--

The Bush administration released a National Intelligence Estimate last week that highlighted Al Qaeda's increasingly comfortable hideout in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

President Bush, in his taped weekly radio address Saturday, said "one of the most troubling" assessments in the report was the finding that Al Qaeda was gaining strength in the tribal region of Pakistan.

The national intelligence director, Mike McConnell, said yesterday that he believed that bin Laden was living in the tribal region.

McConnell also said Musharraf's deal with tribal leaders now appears to have backfired badly. "Al Qaeda has been able to regain some of its momentum," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Reid, the Senate majority leader, agreed with Townsend that the US should go after Al Qaeda militarily "wherever they are."

[Disturbed]

1. I strongly suspect that a joint effort by Pakistan & the US will

occur to decimate al Q in Pakistan. The US Regime will claim Osama was killed. Busholini's popularity will go to the mid 30s. This will ward off any Impeachment move on Busholini.

[izzie]

2. Just why do we think we can do this? Any country can be our

battle field. We are getting to be a pretty bad country. I hope we can stop this.