A Democratic presidential candidate’s call to invade Pakistan puts a spotlight on how the U.S. military is hamstrung in disrupting al Qaeda’s safe haven in that country’s tribal areas. Since the war on terrorism began, the Pentagon has authorized combat troop insertions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and Philippines. In each case, except Iraq, the target was al Qaeda.
But when it comes to Pakistan’s vast tribal areas, now home to the most concentrated collection of al Qaeda militants and Osama bin Laden, the enemy is all but off limits.
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The CIA has a small contingent of officers and paramilitary combatants operating with Pakistan’s government troops. But U.S. forces in Afghanistan can only cross the border in hot pursuit.
Such crossings must be approved by the CIA station chiefs, and embassy officials in Kabul and Islamabad, military and intelligence sources told The Examiner. They asked not to remain anonymous because of the subject’s sensitivity.
Washington also has the option of authorizing the CIA to execute a missile strike from a Predator drone on individual al Qaeda targets. But the airspace is off limits to U.S. fighters and bombers.
If bin Laden or his chief deputy, Ayman Zawahiri, is located, the U.S. defense secretary has the authority to order a raid.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said he, not the U.S., will fight al Qaeda in the tribal areas. But he pulled back his troops last year and has not ordered significant new attacks for fear of inflaming his Muslim population.
“The much preferred solution would be to have Musharraf go after them, so the policy focus now should be on how best to get that to happen,” said Dan Gallington, a former aide to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said last week he would order strikes on Pakistan. But the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said last week there are no plans for a ground assault, calling Pakistan a “sovereign country.”
The U.S. knows al Qaeda is regrouping because of new advances in communications intercept capabilities.
The National Security Agency, the nation’s code breaker, has placed electronic sensors along the mountain ranges of Afghanistan and pointed them at Pakistan, a knowledgeable intelligence source told The Examiner. The receivers scoop up radio and phone communications coming from suspected al Qaeda terror camps.
The NSA also has come up with advanced listening devices for Predator aircraft, which regularly fly over the tribal region, armed with Hellfire missiles.
