1
US to decide Pakistan's anti-terror needs
April 01, 2009 The US military leadership will now decide which tools Pakistan needs inthe war on terror and not the Pakistani Army, unlike in the past whenIslamabad purchased fighter jets, primarily targeting India, from thecounterterrorism aid received from Washington.Following the announcement of the new Af-Pak strategy by PresidentBarack Obama , US officials have indicated that it would be difficult forthe Pakistani establishment this time to purchase anything not be useful forantiterror fight. Concerns have been expressed from various quartersearlier about diversion of anti-terror funds by Pakistan to buy equipmentmore suited for conventional warfare."In the course of implementing this new strategy, General David Petraeusand CENTCOM will study exactly what Pakistan's military needs are thatare best related to the counter-insurgency fight," said Bruce Riedel,chairman of the Interagency Policy Review on Pakistan and Afghanistan.Ridel said Pakistan has been a "hothouse breeding terror" much of whichhas now turned into a "Frankenstein". "Working with the Pakistanis, we willtry to get them the equipment, the training that they need in order to bebetter capable of handling these militants," he said appearing on thepopular Charlie Rose Show.Observing that the Pakistani military is configured for conventional war,Riedel said: "It spent 60 years planning to fight a war against India. It simplydoesn't have capability to really exert a successful counter-insurgencyand counterterrorism strategy in much of western Pakistan."Referring to the fact that western Pakistan is a huge barren area, Riedelsaid:"One thing they need, for example, is air mobility. If you are going to try tocontrol these border regions, you need significant numbers of helicopters."The White Paper of the Interagency Policy Group stresses on the need tostrengthen US efforts to develop and operationally enable Pakistanisecurity forces so that they are capable of succeeding in sustainedcounter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations. "In part this willinclude increased US military assistance for helicopters to provide airmobility, night vision equipment, and training and equipment specificallyfor Pakistani Special Operation Forces and their Frontier Crops,"the White Paper said."The situation in Afghanistan is a tough one. This is a country that has beenat war for 30 years. The situation in Pakistan is equally if not even moredifficult. This is a country with a profound socioeconomic problems, whichhas had a history of political weak relations between the military andcivilian authority. There are dangers here," Riedel said.
Leave a Comment