U.S. Demands Pakistan Act Against Militants, Threatens Intervention [View All]

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Source: McClatchy Newspapers

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — An ambush of a military convoy that killed 17 troops near the Afghan border Wednesday pushed the death toll in a series of attacks to at least 101 Pakistanis in the past five days — and brought President Pervez Musharraf, according to a local newspaper headline, to a "Moment of Truth."

The Bush administration, after publicly demanding that Musharraf rein in militants linked to al Qaida, on Wednesday threatened to launch attacks into Pakistani territory if it sees fit.

"We certainly do not rule out options, and we retain the option especially of striking actionable targets," said White House spokesman Tony Snow. "But it is clearly of the utmost importance to go in there and deal with the problem in the tribal areas."

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But some Pakistanis worry that the military could be stepping into a trap, that to open up a full military assault would only embolden hardcore Islamists in an area famed for supplying the jihadist fighters who helped defeat the Soviet Union in Afghanistan during the 1980s, and who are currently battling U.S. and NATO forces in that same country.



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