By ROBERT BAER

DSC_3314The Pakistani Prime Minister was in Washington Monday promising not to allow Pakistan to become al-Qaeda’s new rear base. As everyone knows, it’s too late for that — bin Laden and almost every other important terrorist we’re after are comfortably holed up there. For the last seven years Bush has begged, cajoled, threatened, and bribed the Pakistanis to do something about al-Qaeda. But nothing has worked.

And unlike Iraq, it has had nothing to do with incompetence. This weekend the Los Angeles Times reported that the CIA has billeted officers in Pakistani military bases in the Northwest Frontier Province looking over the Pakistanis’ shoulders to make sure no leads were missed. It was the right thing to do. But, other than a couple of Predator attacks on second- and third-level Qaeda targets, al-Qaeda is still thriving.

Let’s also be fair to Pakistan. If its army moved into the Northwest Frontier Province in force, the odds are good the army as well as the country would crack. All across Pakistan there is grudging sympathy for Pakistan’s Taliban, al-Qaeda’s host, rebels willing to stand up to the United States. It was not a coincidence that the 9/11 plotters had taken refuge in Pakistan’s largest cities, Rawalpindi and Karachi.

Continue to full article

Creative Commons License photo credit: anselor



Popularity: 45% [?]

Related posts:

  1. Pakistan Victors Want Dialogue With Militants
  2. Benazir’s Assassination
  3. Obama On The Go - Hillary Withdraws
  4. Obama Would Attack Pakistan And Embrace Ahmadinejad, said Bush
  5. Young Woman Abducted and Gang Raped by Guards of the Jinnah Mausoleum