Pakistan agrees to put more pressure on North Waziristan
Image via WikipediaNo conditions were attached to the $2 billion military aid package the United States announced for Pakistan this weekend but there are expectations that require Islamabad to expedite its effort to dislodge militants from North Waziristan.How about letting US troops operate in areas the Pakistan army is incable of operating in? That seems like a rather obvious answer to Qureshi's question. I have discussed at length Pakistan's irrational position on sovereignty.
Diplomatic sources told Dawn that during the strategic dialogue, which concluded on Friday, the Americans accepted Pakistan’s position that it did not have enough troops or resources to launch a major offensive in North Waziristan, as Washington demands.
Pakistan, in return, agreed to increase pressure on the militants hiding in the tribal belt by carrying out more targeted operations at various militant hideouts inside the area, the sources said.
US-trained special operations units of the Pakistani army will conduct those operations but there will be no US participation.
But during the talks, the United States made it obvious that even though it had attached no conditions to the package, it retained various options to halt or reduce aid if its expectations were not met.
As a small demonstration of various legal options available to the US administration, Washington barred half a dozens units in the Pakistani army from receiving any US assistance for allegedly carrying out extrajudicial killings during the Swat operation.
And on Saturday, Senator Patrick Leahy, who heads the powerful Appropriations Committee of the US Senate, clearly indicated what Washington expected from the Pakistani military. “If there is going to be progress against Al Qaeda we need the support of the Pakistani army,” he said. “But there is a lot of concern with extrajudicial killings by the army that remain unpunished, and this will be a factor when we consider a request for more aid. Respect for our law and the laws of war are fundamental.”
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“We do not know what greater evidence to offer than the blood of our people,” said Mr Qureshi while referring to US media reports that Pakistan was not doing enough to fight the militants.
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They claim that US operations even with Pakistan's consent would be a violation of sovereignty, but they have no such complaints about the Taliban and al Qaeda operating on their soil. It is a nonsensical position since the US has no desire to control an inch of Pakistan. It sole desire is to get rid of the people in Pakistan who are trying to kill us.
In another story Dawn reports the Taliban in North Waziristan are threatening to move into Afghanistan if the military mounts operations against them. My response would be what are you waiting for?
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