Offensive in Pakistan?
U.S. Plans Spring Offensive in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration, deeply concerned about recent assassination attempts against Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and a resurgence of Taliban forces in neighboring Afghanistan, is preparing a U.S. military offensive that would reach inside Pakistan with the goal of destroying Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network, military sources said.
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Such an operation almost certainly would demand the cooperation of Musharraf, who previously has allowed only a small number of U.S. Special Operations forces to work alongside Pakistani troops in the semi-autonomous tribal areas. A military source in Washington said last week, “We are told we’re going into Pakistan with Musharraf’s help.”
Yet a large-scale offensive by U.S. forces within the nuclear-armed Islamic republic could be political dynamite for Musharraf.
The army general, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1999, has come under growing political pressure from Islamic parties, and his cooperation with U.S. anti-terrorism efforts is widely unpopular among average Pakistanis. Nor can Musharraf count on the loyalty of all of Pakistan’s armed forces or its intelligence agency, members of which helped set up and maintain the Taliban in Afghanistan and are suspected of ties to militant Islamic groups.
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Musharraf’s vulnerability is of deep concern to U.S. officials. If he were killed, Bush administration officials say, it is unlikely that any successor would be as willing to work toward U.S. goals to eliminate Islamic extremists.
As a joint effort between us and Pakistan, I’d say it’s a decent idea. The problem I have is that this could lead to another coup, putting in power someone who won’t work with us in hunting down al Qaeda and creating more hatred in the region. So unless this has a good chance of doing major damage to the group (say, catching bin Laden), I’m not sure it’s worth it. Also, there’s the question of troops – we’re already spread pretty thin.
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