Very good critical analysis of Pakistan and our spring offensive.
1. This speaks for itself.
Gallucci went on, “We haven’t been this vulnerable since the British burned Washington in 1814.”
2. If the spring offensive does diminish the tempo of American operations in Iraq as speculated look for the resistance to take more initiatives. Iraq could get even uglier.
The spring offensive could diminish the tempo of American operations in Iraq.
3. Why have we been telegraphing when we are going to strike, is bin Laden expected to sit and wait? The offensive in a more covert manner may have already started.
"The question is how deep into Pakistan can we pursue him?"
Pravda asserted in 2001 that Osama bin-Laden and his closest supporters most likely hide themselves on a base in the Pamirs, in the so-called Wakhan corridor and may in fact be in China or trying to draw us into China. The Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan empties into China and is in some places less than 10 miles wide, a great place for an ambush.
If Osama is in China Pakistan may offer a less precarious route for the United States to take.
“It is a very sensitive issue. There is no room for any foreign elements coming and assisting us. We don’t need any assistance.”
Pakistan is making it clear that its forces -- and not Americans -- will hunt for Osama bin Laden and other terrorism suspects in the rugged border region near Afghanistan.
But again does anyone want to consider the probabilities or potential problems with violating Chinese airspace or territory? -Am
Pakistan America’s most dangerous ally
New Delhi, March 3: An article by influential political commentator Seymour Hersh has said that Pakistan is increasingly being perceived as a dangerous ally for the United States.
Hersh, who is known for his sources within the US intelligence establishment, has said that as Pak President Pervez Musharraf fights to save his country’s image, the US is poised to take advantage of the situation and mount “a spring offensive” to flush out Osama bin Laden.
Hersh quotes an unnamed US military advisor as having told him that special forces personnel around the world have been briefed on their new assignments, “and in some cases have been given ‘warning orders’ - the stage before being sent into combat.”
Hersh’s piece, which has been carried in the latest issue of The New Yorker, said that the last has not been heard of the AQ Khan episode that landed Pak in nuclear soup in the first place. Robert Gallucci, a former United Nations weapons inspector who is now dean of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, is quoted as calling AQ Khan “the Johnny Appleseed” of the nuclear-arms race.
(Appleseed, whose real name was John Chapman, is an American legend of the 18th century known for planting and supplying apples to the entire country.)
Gallucci, who is a consultant to the CIA on proliferation issues, told Hersh, “Bad as it is with Iran, North Korea, and Libya having nuclear-weapons material, the worst part is that they could transfer it to a non-state group. That’s the biggest concern, and the scariest thing about all this - that Pakistan could work with the worst terrorist groups on earth to build nuclear weapons.
There’s nothing more important than stopping terrorist groups from getting nuclear weapons.
The most dangerous country for the United States now is Pakistan, and second is Iran.”
Gallucci went on, “We haven’t been this vulnerable since the British burned Washington in 1814.”
The spring offensive to hunt bin Laden will involve the movement of thousands of American troops, the New Yorker piece said.
The spring offensive could diminish the tempo of American operations in Iraq.
“It’s going to be a full-court press,” one Pentagon planner is quoted. Some of the most highly skilled Special Forces units, such as Task Force 121, will be shifted from Iraq to Pakistan.
After Pak’s role in providing nuclear aid to Iran and Libya was revealed, Musharraf insisted once again, this time at the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, in January, that he would not permit American troops to search for Al Qaeda members inside Pakistan.
“That is not a possibility at all,” he said. “It is a very sensitive issue. There is no room for any foreign elements coming and assisting us. We don’t need any assistance.”
Nonetheless, a senior Pentagon adviser told Hersh in mid-February, the spring offensive is on. “We’re entering a huge period of transition in Iraq,” the adviser said, referring to the coming changeover of forces, with many of the experienced regular Army combat units being replaced by National Guard and Army Reserve units.
“We will not be conducting a lot of ops, and so you redirect and exploit somewhere else.”
The operation, American officials said, is scheduled to involve the redeployment to South Asia of thousands of American soldiers, including members of Task Force 121.
The logistical buildup began in mid-February, as more than a dozen American C-17 cargo planes began daily flights, hauling helicopters, vehicles, and other equipment to military bases in Pakistan. Small teams of American Special Forces units have been stationed at the Shahbaz airbase, in northwestern Pakistan, since the beginning of the Afghanistan war, in the fall of 2001.
One American intelligence consultant noted that American forces in Afghanistan have crossed into Pakistan in “hot pursuit” of Al Qaeda suspects in previous operations, with no complaints from the Pakistani leadership.
If the American forces strike quickly and decisively against bin Laden from within Pakistan, he added, “Musharraf could say he gave no advance authorisation.
We can move in with so much force and firepower - with so much shock and awe - that we will be too fast for him.” The consultant said, “The question is, how deep into Pakistan can we pursue him?” He added, “Musharraf is in a very tough position.”
At home, Musharraf is in more danger than ever over his handling of the nuclear affair.
“He’s opened up Pandora’s box, and he will never be able to manage it,” Chaudry Nisar Ali Khan, a former government minister who now heads an opposition party, said. “Pakistani public opinion feels that AQ has been made a scapegoat, and international opinion thinks he’s a threat.
This is a no-win situation for Musharraf. The average man feels that there will be a nuclear rollback, and Pakistan’s immediate deterrent will be taken away. It comes down to an absolute disaster for Musharraf.”
Pakistan to oversee the hunt for terrorism suspects on its soil
Islamabad, Pakistan-AP -- Pakistan is making it clear that its forces -- and not Americans -- will hunt for Osama bin Laden and other terrorism suspects in the rugged border region near Afghanistan.
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
