A Letter To President Musharraf

Grease up....bend over...

July 18, 2007
Bush Aides See Failure in Fight With Al Qaeda in Pakistan
By MARK MAZZETTI and DAVID E. SANGER

WASHINGTON, July 17 — President Bush’s top counterterrorism advisers acknowledged Tuesday that the strategy for fighting Osama bin Laden’s leadership of Al Qaeda in Pakistan had failed, as the White House released a grim new intelligence assessment that has forced the administration to consider more aggressive measures inside Pakistan.

The intelligence report, the most formal assessment since the Sept. 11 attacks about the terrorist threat facing the United States, concludes that the United States is losing ground on a number of fronts in the fight against Al Qaeda, and describes the terrorist organization as having significantly strengthened over the past two years.

In identifying the main reasons for Al Qaeda’s resurgence, intelligence officials and White House aides pointed the finger squarely at a hands-off approach toward the tribal areas by Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who last year brokered a cease-fire with tribal leaders in an attempt to drain support for Islamic extremism in the region.

“It hasn’t worked for Pakistan,” said Frances Fragos Townsend, who heads the Homeland Security Council at the White House. “It hasn’t worked for the United States.”

While Bush administration officials had reluctantly endorsed the cease-fire as part of their effort to prop up the Pakistani leader, they expressed relief on Tuesday that General Musharraf may have to abandon that approach, because the accord seems to have unraveled.

But American officials make little secret of their skepticism that General Musharraf has the capability to be effective in the mountainous territory along the Afghan border, where his troops have been bloodied before by a mix of Qaeda leaders and tribes that view the territory as their own, not part of Pakistan.

“We’ve seen in the past that he’s sent people in and they get wiped out,” said one senior official involved in the internal debate. “You can tell from the language today that we take the threat from the tribal areas incredibly seriously. It has to be dealt with. If he can deal with it, amen. But if he can’t, he’s got to build and borrow the capability.”

In weighing how to deal with the Qaeda threat in Pakistan, American officials have been meeting in recent weeks to discuss what some said was emerging as an aggressive new strategy, one that would include both public and covert elements. They said there was growing concern that pinprick attacks on Qaeda targets were not enough, but also said some new American measures might have to remain secret to avoid embarrassing General Musharraf.


The growing Qaeda threat in Pakistan has prompted repeated trips to Islamabad by senior administration officials to lean on officials there and calls by lawmakers to make American aid to Pakistan contingent on a sustained counterterrorism effort by General Musharraf’s government.

#392 Posted by zeemax on July 17, 2007 2:04:17 pm


Musharraf will crack down, and more bombings. I don't suppose anyone will be safe anymore in Pakistan.


You're taking it from all sides..First its the paki army attacking the mosque..now mushy is being pushed to bomb the tribals..which means the tribals will be even more pissed off..which means more bombs going off in the land of the pure...

US pushing Pakistan to hit al-Qaeda: official

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
WASHINGTON - The United States will keep pressing Pakistan to take action against the Al Qaeda, which, according to an American intelligence report released Tuesday, is regrouping in Pakistan's remote border regions to carry out terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, a senior White House official said.

zeemax

I am not an expert on political issues but i see a dramatic change in the general psyche of pakistanis. Their islam is becoming less cultural now and they are going towards pure islam. All these devolopments seem helpfull to those who believe in pure islam independent of cultural and national influences. This seems a very crucial era in the history of the country.

zee your priorities are all wrong :(

Re: # 400

mumaini ko shukriya kehne ki zaroorat nahin :)

#396 Posted by cliftonbridge,

Will do ... watching news ... :)

Re: # 398

Buhat shukriya

#393 Posted by philosopher,

I don't think there'll be a split in the military ranks. They are actually the ones who are 'brainwashed', and not the Islamists. There will be civil war.

Thing is, the administration had in their arrogance, anticipated a blowback, but had decided they could contain it. Not so. They were foolish. Noone listened to Ghazi, and noone knew what could happen if they do what he had always been warning them not to do. He accepted all conditions *except* use of the word "surrender" and "arrest". The power drunk government didn't even accept that, and Ghazi said 'go to hell'.

They know better now.

abu yaar main private practice main houn main ne residency 4 saal pehle kee thee, abhi tu mera program director bhi retire ho gaiya hai, leykin agar kisse ko advice waghaira chahiay tu zaroor un ko mera email dee dijiyay qulb100@yahoo.

clifton mumani..kya aapp ayk call nikalwa saktii hein residency ki apnay dawa-khanay say?

so they want to kill mush and his supporters now they want to kill CJ and BB and all her supporters ....so the majority of all pakistani's infact. I hope people wishfully thinking that this was an antidictatorship movement have taken the blinkers off their eyes.
The ideology of hate is out and proud. Death to all pakistani's who are not talibanists.
Success is when they die, success is when we die. Infact death and destruction is the only victory.
zee check your mail :) and be prepared to donate to the asma jehangir foundation :)

If the core-commanders and the higher-brass feels that there bmw’s and real estate could be in jeopardy than brotha musharaf would have to take one for the team just like zia did. The next army chief will condemn musharaf and his liberal agenda just so status quo remains. I know its cynical but I hope my people r not stupid and if theres a change this time around it should be the change of system and not just the faces.

#332 Posted by zeemax on July 16, 2007 11:48:29 am

under the 'writers' tab, there are NIL articles listed under my name. I think I wrote at-least five ... :(

I see 6 articles under your name. None are under your name on the writer page. You have to click on the Articles tab to see them.

zee/echo

Do you guys see any chance of split in the military ranks?

I remember I had said many times that if there's an attack on Jamia Hafsa, Waziristan will erupt ... but noone believed me, in their glee on the 'ninjas' getting killed. Noone even noticed that most of those 'ninjas' were from Waziristan.

Now it is likely events will dictate themselves. Musharraf will crack down, and more bombings. I don't suppose anyone will be safe anymore in Pakistan. All for the stupid arrogance of these ass*hole westernized liberal wannabes.

#389 Posted by echoboom,

There was an ex-SSG brigadier being interviewed just now by phone. He got quite emotional. He said you can't fight the Waziri tribals. Noone has defeated them, ever. If you declare war on them, you will lose. All you can do is talk ... talk ... talk ....

I had posted Mulla Fakir of Bajaur and Abdullah Mehsood of S. Waziristan's vow to avenge on I think 11th or 12th July.