U.S. Considers New Covert Push Within Pakistan

The New York Times reports the U.S. is considering a change to rules governing covert actions within Pakistan aimed at increasing counterinsurgency efforts against The Taliban and Al Qaeda.

President Bush’s senior national security advisers are debating whether to expand the authority of the Central Intelligence Agency and the military to conduct far more aggressive covert operations in the tribal areas of Pakistan. The debate is a response to intelligence reports that Al Qaeda and the Taliban are intensifying efforts there to destabilize the Pakistani government, several senior administration officials said.

Dawn; however, is reporting,

Pakistan reiterated Sunday that it will not let American forces hunt Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants on its soil, after a news report said Washington was considering expanding U.S. military and intelligence operations into Pakistan's tribal regions. The Foreign Ministry dismissed as “speculative” a story in the New York Times on Sunday saying U.S. President George W. Bush's top security officials discussed a proposal Friday to deploy American troops to pursue militants along the Pakistan-Afghan border. “We are very clear. Nobody is going to be allowed to do anything here,” said Major General Waheed Arshad, the army's top spokesman. “The government has said it many times,” Arshad said. “No foreign forces will be allowed to operate inside Pakistan.” In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai's spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Supporting Pakistan's counterinsurgency effort will be a politically charge issue in Pakistan where many Pakistani's believe our efforts are directed at gaining more control over the inner workings of the Pakistani government as opposed to helping the Pakistan governments with its internal struggles against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

One fact is certain, no change in tactics will take place until after elections in Pakistan as this politically charged issue could further destablize Musharraf's tenuous hold on power.

The only hope for a stable Pakistan are if Musharraf and Zardari are able to put aside their differences and build a coalition against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Only then can these two forces prevent a popular backlash against the Pakistani government which will undoubtedly occur during Pakistan's counterinsurgency effort.