U.S. Troops to Head to Pakistan

[sabra]

Source: WP - Early Warning Blog

Beginning early next year, U.S. Special Forces are expected to vastly expand their presence in Pakistan, as part of an effort to train and support indigenous counter-insurgency forces and clandestine counterterrorism units, according to defense officials involved with the planning.

These Pakistan-centric operations will mark a shift for the U.S. military and for U.S. Pakistan relations. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the U.S. used Pakistani bases to stage movements into Afghanistan. Yet once the U.S. deposed the Taliban government and established its main operating base at Bagram, north of Kabul, U.S. forces left Pakistan almost entirely. Since then, Pakistan has restricted U.S. involvement in cross-border military operations as well as paramilitary operations on its soil.

But the Pentagon has been frustrated by the inability of Pakistani national forces to control the borders or the frontier area. And Pakistan's political instability has heightened U.S. concern about Islamic extremists there.

According to Pentagon sources, reaching a different agreement with Pakistan became a priority for the new head of the U.S. Special Operations Command, Adm. Eric T. Olson. Olson visited Pakistan in August, November and again this month, meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Gen. Tariq Majid and Lt. Gen. Muhammad Masood Aslam, commander of the military and paramilitary troops in northwest Pakistan. Olson also visited the headquarters of the Frontier Corps, a separate paramilitary force recruited from Pakistan's border tribes.

Read more: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2007/12/musharrafs_woes_have_opened_a.html?nav=rss_blog

[Greeby]

1. Oh first class idea

:eyes:

[bemildred]

2. Yep. Can Negroponte be far behind?

I guess we are going to try to keep Mushhead in power.

[saigon68]

8. I'M sure Joementum is behind this

And with your tax dollars too

[bemildred]

10. Joe never met a muslim despot he didn't like. nt

[leftynyc]

13. Yeah - I'm sure the senator from CT

is running foreign policy now. How moronic. How about the commander in chief has made that dumb decision all by himself?

[bemildred]

14. Being a Neocon, I doubt he is allowed anywhere near foreign policy these days.

But we still have to listen to him blathering on in the State Propaganda Organs like he is an important dude.

[leftynyc]

16. You don't have to listen to anything

Turn off the radio or the TV and the problem is solved. If you don't think the neocons are still in charge, just watch what the US reaction to Bhutto's murder is. And I'm curious, why single out Lieberman? There are plenty of neocon senators running around. Why does holy joe threaten you more than the others?

[bemildred]

17. So many questions ...

1.) I don't watch TV or listen to radio. Really. Almost never.

2.) What would be the difference between when the Neocons are in charge and when they are not in the US' reaction to Bhutto's assassination? I mean I don't get the connection.

3.) I didn't bring up Lieberman, my good friend Saigon did. I would not have thought of him myself, but I wanted to support Saigon, and it is always a good thing to bash Lieberman.

4.) So, do you really want to defend Lieberman?

[leftynyc]

18. I never defend turncoats

I was just curious why mention him over way more powerful neocons that are on the news shows constantly. And I think the difference is that the neocons are foaming at the mouth at the idea of getting involved in Pakistan. The idea that such an unstable country has nuclear weapons is actually pretty scary. Unfortunately, with this bunch in charge, they would only screw things up further.

[0007]

15. The mop up specialist is on the road again......



[TwilightGardener]

3. I've learned that "counterinsurgency" = paying locals to kill whomever they please.

[jwirr]

4. And where the Special Forces go can war be far behind? nt

[LynnTheDem]

5. hrmmm...since the vast majority of Pakistanis hate our guts & prefer OBL

to any of us (see last week's poll where OBL got top approval ratings in Pakistan), I'm gonna make the wild guess that they ain't gonna like us being on their soil. Especially when we start oopsy-killing their people.

[ozymandius]

6. Just like the Romans.

They trained foreign frontiersmen how to sack cities one hill at a time.

[sentelle]

7. OK

Are we winning the War On Terra yet?

How about now? Are we winning yet?


How about now? Are we winning?

[Marrah_G]

9. Let's train more religious zealots!

That worked out GREAT for the women of Afghanistan!

[htuttle]

11. I wonder if 'early next year' has now been moved up to 'Tuesday'...

[EFerrari]

12. I wonder if they're there already. n/t

[Karenina]

19. They're there ALREADY.