U.S. says Qaeda safe haven inaccessible

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. says Qaeda safe haven inaccessible
Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:05PM EDT

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's safe haven in
northwestern Pakistan is largely inaccessible to outside
forces and unlikely to be eliminated soon by the U.S. or
Pakistani military, top intelligence officials said on
Wednesday.

At a hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives, Pentagon
intelligence chief James Clapper said the United States was
not content to sit still while the militant network blamed
for the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington
regenerated its strength in North Waziristan.

"I think our objective will be to neutralize, not eliminate, but
certainly make this safe haven -- as we have the others --
less safe and less appealing for AQ," Clapper told a joint
session of the House armed services and intelligence
committees.

-snip-

"This is going to be a long-haul process," he said. "I don't
think we'll have any demonstrable change within (a) three-
year time frame."

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2544153420070726

[babylonsister]

1. From another source, McClatchy, different take:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1437236&mesg_id=1437236

McClatchy: U.S. to Pakistan: Use military force to rout al Qaida

U.S. to Pakistan: Use military force to rout al Qaida
By Renee Schoof and Jonathan S. Landay | McClatchy Newspapers


WASHINGTON — The U.S. government is pressing Pakistan to use its military to rout al Qaida from havens on its soil, a top State Department official told a Senate panel on Wednesday.

"We can do a better job in trying to elicit a better performance from the Pakistani military inside their border," Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Burns said Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, had a strong commitment to fight the Taliban and al Qaida.

But when pressed by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., on whether Musharraf was going after al Qaida, Burns replied cautiously: "We need to see more effective action."

A recent National Intelligence Estimate, a consensus report from American intelligence agencies, found that al Qaida has reconstituted and has found haven in Pakistan to regroup and plot attacks.

Kerry said Afghanistan couldn't be stabilized if its enemies could hide across the border in Pakistan.

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/18372.html
" A nation that does not take care of its vete

[IndianaGreen]

7. The US cannot even control our border with Mexico, and we expect Pakistan to control tribal areas?

We wouldn't be in this mess had Bush stayed in Afghanistan instead of pursuing a quick victory in Iraq. We are now losing two wars in two continents!

[BrokenBeyondRepair]

12. we should have never been in Afghanistan either

[Lasher]

2. "You are either with us or you are against us in the fight against terror."

Junior said that at a November 6 2001 press conference. We know that the real al Qaeda is holed up in northwestern Pakistan. But Musharaff won't let us go in and take them out.

So is Pakistan with us or against us?

[eridani]

3. Pakistan sez "no dice"

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2798524.ece

Pakistan has made clear it will not tolerate a US military operation against Osama bin Laden or other al-Qa'ida targets inside its territory, as Washington continues to push President Pervez Musharraf to do more to confront militants.

"Any attack inside our territory would be unacceptable," a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Tasnim Aslam, said. "Any such action would be irresponsible and dangerous. We are combating terrorism in our own interest. We do not want our efforts to be undermined by any ill-conceived action from any quarter that is inconsistent with the principles of international law."

Analysts say the rebuff - triggered by comments over the weekend by US officials claiming it maintained the right to strike suspected terrorism targets anywhere - represents a rare public glimpse of intense private negotiations between the governments. The US has been pushing General Musharraf to do more to prevent the stream of people heading to training camps inside his country.

"You cannot stop the stream. You have to shut the camps, which are all in Pakistan," said Barnett Rubin, a senior fellow at New York University's Centre on International Co-operation. "If they were in Afghanistan they would have been bombed by now."
He added: "Up until now, the government of Pakistan has not authorised this except for some very small, deniable covert operations. Either Musharraf changes his policy, or the US carries out operations in Pakistan without the consent of the government."

[moggie]

6. Do these people never learn?

If they were in Afghanistan they would have been bombed by now

They were in Afghanistan, and they were bombed. How well did that work out?

Either Musharraf changes his policy, or the US carries out operations in Pakistan without the consent of the government

That'd empower the more militant factions in Pakistan. What will happen to Musharraf if he's seen as powerless to prevent the hated US from waltzing in and bombing the crap out of people in one part of the country?

[madrchsod]

4. osama is an outsider and as long he is useful

they will tolerate him. as long as he can pay off the guys that run that area he`ll be safe

[libodem]

5. Maybe we should throw a few more million

at Pakistan. We are renting their army for a border patrol. Remember they are trying to cooperate with us, so we won't bomb them back to the stone age, not because they love us.

[DavidDvorkin]

8. But we have the most powerful military in the history of the universe!

I keep hearing that, including here on DU. Surely nothing is beyond the reach of our brave and mighty invaders and conquerors of small nations!

[mikeytherat]

9. Go in and bomb the shit out of 'em, consequences be damned!

This is our current M.O, correct? So, I fail to understand why we don't just fly into Pakistan and bomb the ever loving shit out of it. If Al Queda is hiding in Pakistan, the Pakistanis should turn them over or face The Wrath!

Do I need the "sarcasm" tag?

mikey_the_rat

[eridani]

10. Georgie sez we can't do that because Pakistan is a sovereign country

--which of course didn't stop our invasion of Iraq. Pakistan is a sovereigh country with nukes, which makes a big difference. We'd never pick a fight with anybody who could actually cause us real harm. There is the danger that an attack will mobilize support behind the fundie whackjobs there and get Musharraf overthrown. He may be a scumbag, but we haven't shown much aptitude for taking over countries that we know jackshit about culturally and linguistically and remaking them in the neocon image.

[Algorem]

11. Not unlike Superman's impenetrable Fortress of Solitude.

comic fiction

[daleo]

13. Remember the Tora Bora schematics?

I recall pictures of elaborate Al-Quada cave systems, with roads inside the mountain, hydro-electric stations, rest areas, etc. There were even comic strip fighters in the foreground.