US pushes Pakistan on action against al Qaeda

Washington Times:

The United States yesterday called on Pakistan to use military force against Islamic fighters in the tribal areas along its border with Afghanistan and offered to fund Pakistani military training and equipment to get the job done.

Islamabad has estimated it will need up to $350 million for the military upgrade, and Washington will come up with as much of that amount as possible, said Richard Boucher, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia.

"Some military action is necessary and will probably have to be taken," he told reporters. "We need to help them upgrade their military, particularly the frontier corps ... the 85,000 or so military forces that they have in the tribal and border regions of Pakistan."

Mr. Boucher said the Bush administration has not identified the source of the money. It would add to $750 million already budgeted over five years for economic development in the tribal areas, which he said "have never really been part of the national order."

"We can help them make these spaces part of the national economy," he said. "These have been sort of ungoverned or indirectly governed spaces, where the government relied on the tribal elders to be the agents, the powers that be in those areas."

...

"Al Qaeda has been able to exploit an opportunity last year after the Waziristan agreement," Mr. Boucher said. "By violating the terms of that agreement, they were able to operate, meet, plan, recruit, obtain financing in more comfort in the tribal areas than previously."

Violence raged through Pakistan's border areas over the weekend after the government violently ended a weeklong siege at the Red Mosque in Islamabad. More than 70 people — most of them soldiers and police — were killed and the militants renounced the Waziristan agreement.

The government immediately dispatched tribal elders to try to salvage the deal, even though Gen. Musharraf had pledged a day earlier that he would crack down on extremism in "every corner" of Pakistan.

"If they decide that an agreement like that can work and can be effective, they might want to try it again. But in the end, it's the behavior of people in that area that really matters," Mr. Boucher said.

"There are elements in these areas that are extremely violent and are out to kill government people, out to kill government leaders, and will not settle for a peaceful way forward," he said.

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It is hard to see why anyone expects the tribal elders are the Islamist to act in good faith on the "agreements" in this area. The people making the agreement are part of the problem because they are protecting the bad guys are the are bad guys too. We are already giving Pakistan substantial sums to fight these people and not getting our moneys worth. It will probably take US forces to move in there with the help of Pakistan to get control of the area and remove al Qaeda. We should do this without further delay. Pakistan cannot claim they don't control this area and at the same time claim that the US and others should not move into the area and get rid of the problem that plagues both Pakistan and the US.

Westhawk has some thoughtful comments on Musharraf's dilemma.