The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 72/No. 24      June 16, 2008

 
Washington intensifies war
in Pakistan’s border region
(front page)
 
BY SAM MANUEL  
Defeating al-Qaeda and Taliban-backed militias in Pakistan’s border regions with Afghanistan would be the first priority, says Gen. David Petraeus, if he is confirmed as the next head of the U.S. Central Command (Centcom).

U.S. and NATO officials have criticized Pakistani government talks with the militias aimed at signing “peace” agreements. During his Senate confirmation hearing, however, Petraeus hinted that the talks could be an opening to apply counterinsurgency lessons learned from fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The U.S. military continues to widen operations against militia groups in Pakistan. U.S. warplanes and drones routinely violate Pakistani airspace, forcing Pakistan’s military to file a formal complaint with U.S. and NATO commands in Afghanistan, reported a May 16 AP dispatch.

Petraeus currently commands U.S. forces in Iraq. His deputy, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, has been nominated to replace him. The promotions of both men would integrate the two major fronts of Washington’s “global war on terror”—Iraq and Afghanistan—with the aim of stabilizing the military situation in Afghanistan through an escalation of counterinsurgency operations along the border with Pakistan.  
 
Iraq and Afghanistan
Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee May 22, Petraeus said that as Centcom commander one of his first trips would be to Pakistan to meet with the head of Pakistan’s military, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani.

Petraeus said more assistance should be given to the new Pakistani government, which is still developing a counterinsurgency strategy. The general said the U.S. military has a lot to offer in that regard.

U.S. secretary of defense Robert Gates struck a similar note May 30 speaking at a press conference on a U.S. air base in Guam. According to the Bloomberg news agency, Gates said Pakistan’s government was in “transition” and needed more time before it could move aggressively against Taliban and al-Qaeda militias.

His remarks came a day after the head of U.S. troops in Afghanistan criticized Islamabad for not doing enough to eliminate Taliban and al-Qaeda bases in Pakistan that are used to organize attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan.  
 
‘Peace talks’
Just hours before Islamabad signed an agreement with Taliban-backed militias in the North West Frontier Province, John Negroponte, U.S. deputy secretary of state, warned against doing so. He said the outcome could be an increase in attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan, or the rest of the world. He called on the Pakistani government to arrest Al-Qaeda-backed leader Baitullah Mehsud, with whom Islamabad is also attempting to negotiate an agreement in the South Waziristan region.

Under the agreement the Pakistani military would gradually withdraw from Swat, an area where the army took substantial losses last year in fighting Taliban allies. A group called Taliban in Swat pledged not to attack the army and would join in maintaining law and order. Sharia law would apply in the area but schools for girls that had been shut down by Taliban supporters would be allowed to operate as well as a UNICEF polio vaccinations program.  
 
U.S. airstrikes
The Pakistani military said May 16 that as many as 14 people were killed when missiles fired from Predator drones struck a guesthouse complex in Damadola village.

U.S. and Pakistani officials said that a “high value” target was among those killed, according to NBC News. Local Taliban representatives said those in the guesthouses were attending a wedding.

The Pakistani military said it believes the attack was launched by U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan. U.S. war planes and drones violated Pakistani air space five times in mid-May, according to Asian News International.

In January 2007 Predators fired Hellfire missiles at another guesthouse in Damadola, killing 18 people. The target was al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayaman al-Zawahiri but he had already left.  
 
Pakistan instability
Washington welcomed the parliamentary elections in Pakistan in February that resulted in a new ruling coalition headed by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Bhutto was assassinated in December while campaigning in Rawalpindi.

In November Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf imposed a state of emergency and purged the Supreme Court in order to block legal challenges to his re-election the month before. Musharraf’s political isolation made him an ineffective ally in Washington’s fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Nawaz Sharif, who heads the Pakistan Muslim League-N, the second largest party in parliament, is now pressing to remove Musharraf and try him for treason. Sharif, a former prime minister, was ousted in 1999 by the military headed by then-general Musharraf.

Farzana Raja, a PPP spokesperson, said there had been “no specific talk” with Sharif about impeaching Musharraf. She said the PPP wanted to avoid a confrontation with the president and was focused instead on a package of constitutional amendments that would strip Musharraf of the power to dissolve parliament or appoint top officials.

But the new government has its own factional fissures. The PML-N withdrew from the cabinet May 13 to protest the delay in reinstating judges dismissed in November. In making the announcement Sharif said the party would from this point on support the government on an “issue-by-issue” basis.
 
 
Related articles:
Iraqi gov’t troops take control of Sadr City  
 
 
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