[GEO.TV] The United States is examining ways to mitigate any Pak retaliation as it piles pressure on Islamabad to crack down on holy warriors, a senior US official said on Friday, cautioning that US action could extend beyond a new freeze in aid.Pakistain is a crucial gateway for US military supplies destined for US and other troops fighting a 16-year-old war in neighboring, landlocked Afghanistan.
So far, the Pentagon says Pakistain has not given any indication that it would close its airspace or roads to military supplies and US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis played down concerns on Friday.
But Washington has only just begun to work through its new plan to suspend up to roughly $2 billion in US security assistance, announced on Thursday. It came days after U.S. President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
tweeted that Pakistain had rewarded past US aid with "nothing but lies and deceit."
The senior Trump administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Washington hoped that the aid suspension would be enough to communicate its concern to Islamabad.
But the official cautioned that the freeze was also not the only tool that America had to pressure the country -- suggesting it might resort to other measures, if needed.
"We are considering many different things, not just the (financial) assistance issue," the official said.
"We are also looking at Pakistain’s potential response ... and we are looking at ways to deal with that and to mitigate the risks to the relationship."
The official declined to detail what steps were under consideration, including whether that might include possible unilateral U.S. military action against murderous Moslems in Pakistain.