WASHINGTON - Anxious to avoid a US intervention or cutoff of funds, Pakistan's civilian government is proposing military and intelligence changes that officials in Islamabad and the United States say are needed to counter the growing threat from insurgents, officials say.
The commando division of the Pakistani army is trained by the United States and is an elite special operations force similar to the US Army's Special Forces, or Green Berets. Pakistan has been criticized for sending conventional troops into the tribal areas that have not been trained in the kind of guerrilla warfare techniques that US officials say are needed to counter the militants.
"The Americans tell us that they need action now," said a senior Pakistani official who was in Washington last week during Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gillani's meetings with President Bush. Deployment of the elite force "will meet the American demand of immediate action."
Senior Pakistani officials have proposed a plan in which the intelligence services of both countries would work to end the conflict between the spies and informants that each has used in the tribal areas, which have often been working against each other.
What?!!
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The new civilian government, elected late last year in the first democratic elections in a decade, also has agreed to negotiate ways in which the United States could launch missile strikes from unmanned Predator missiles.
In recent years, the United States has launched many of the so-called unilateral missile strikes against suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders because Bush administration officials believed that some ISI members might tip them off. Such strikes have angered Pakistan, especially one last week that came on the eve of Gillani's visit to Washington.
During last week's meetings, Gillani and his aides got an earful from both the White House and Congress about the need to act far more aggressively in the tribal areas. Some elements within the administration are pushing to send US forces into the tribal areas, and prominent members of Congress are threatening to hold up at least $225 million in counter-terrorism funds already earmarked for Pakistan, and as much as $60 million a month more once the new round of budget deliberations gets underway in December unless Pakistan moves more quickly and effectively.
Several senior administration officials would not comment on what Pakistan has proposed, saying that disclosing details could undermine their effectiveness. One US intelligence official, however, confirmed that some proposals are under discussion that would allow the CIA to improve its capabilities in the tribal areas, possibly in concert with Pakistani intelligence."--MORE--"
