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| Afghanistan |
| Pakistani Pullout May Change U.S. Strategy |
| 2002-06-01 |
| The United States may be forced to change tactics in the war on terror if Pakistan pulls out of the search for Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters along its Afghan border, the new American general in charge of the campaign said Friday. Lt. Gen. Dan K. McNeill said enemy fighters will find plenty of refuge in Pakistan's western tribal region if Pakistan shifts its troops away from the Afghan border. "We will determine what it means to us, if indeed there are withdrawals," McNeill said in an interview with The Associated Press. "And if we need to make adjustments because of anything that's occurred in Pakistan, we will do so." McNeill has avoided commenting on the possibility of the United States expanding its search in western Pakistan, where some American special forces have worked in past months. Glad to see he didn't say something stoopid like "We will certainly respect the territorial integrity of Pakistan and refrain from any cross-border operations." We've been staying out because the Paks have been insisting they could handle it. Now they're saying they're not going to handle it because they have more important things to do. We've already got the precedent of having the Special Forces and CIA in there. If there's a situation where they need support from conventional forces there might be a CC to the Paks... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |