US military operation in Pakistan?

[k hanly <khanly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

US Plans Offensive Vs Al-Qaida Inside Pakistan - Report



NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- The Bush administration is preparing a U.S. military
offensive that would reach inside Pakistan with the goal of destroying Osama
bin Laden's al-Qaida network, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday, citing
military sources.

The report said the administration is motivated by deep concern about recent
assassination attempts against PakistanPresident Pervez Musharraf and a
resurgence of Taliban forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

Citing sources familiar with details of the plan and internal military
communications, the Tribune reported that U.S. Central Command is assembling
a team of military intelligence officers that would be posted in Pakistan
ahead of the operation. As currently envisioned, the offensive would involve
Special Operations forces, Army Rangers and Army ground troops. A Navy
aircraft carrier would be deployed in the Arabian Sea, the report said.

The Tribune cited sources as saying the operation, referred to in internal
Pentagon messages as "the spring offensive," would be driven by certain
undisclosed events in Pakistan and across the region. It cited a source
familiar with details of the plan as saying this is "not like a contingency
plan for North Korea, something that sits on a shelf. This planning is like
planning for Iraq. They want this to be executable, now."

The report said the Defense Department declined to comment on the planned
offensive or its details.

Such an operation would almost certainly demand Musharraf's cooperation, the
report said. The Pakistani president has previously allowed only a small
number of Special Operations forces to work alongside Pakistani troops in
the semi- autonomous tribal regions. The Tribune quoted a military source in
Washington as saying last week, "We are told we're going in to Pakistan with
Musharraf's help."

The plan is characterized within the Pentagon as "a big effort" in the next
year, the report said. A series of planning orders for the offensive were
issued in recent weeks, the Tribune said, and the deadline for key planning
factors for the military was Jan. 21.

Thousands of U.S. forces would be involved, the report cited planners as
saying. Some of the 10,600 U.S. troops now in Afghanistan would be shifted
to the border region as part of regular troop movements, and some would be
deployed within Pakistan.

The Tribune cited internal Pentagon communications as saying the U.S. is
also weighing how and if Iran can be persuaded to lend help, through direct
or indirect channels.

Military planners said the offensive wouldn't require a significant increase
in U.S. troops in South Asia, the Tribune said, but Special Operations
forces that shifted from Afghanistan to Iraq in 2003 will return.

Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com

-By Steven C. Higgins, Dow Jones Newswires; 1-201-938-4378; hbsglobaldesk@
dowjones.com