LAHORE: The United States is planning to escalate aerial raids on the Tribal Areas, The Telegraph newspaper reported on Monday.
Officials consulted on President Barack Obama’s plans for talks with the Taliban told the paper on Sunday there would be “a dramatic increase in Predator drone attacks on Taliban targets in defiance of Pakistani objections” to cross-border attacks. They said the military conflict would be raised to new levels of intensity before talks could begin. “There will be talks but the Taliban are going to experience a lot of pain first, on both sides of the border,” a senior Western diplomat said.
There are hopes of establishing a “hammer and anvil” encirclement of the Taliban with the Pakistan Army expected to extend its bombardment of their safe havens in Bajaur Agency.
President Obama told the New York Times last week: “At the heart of a new Afghanistan policy is going to be a smarter Pakistan policy. … As long as you have got safe havens in these border regions that the Pakistani government can’t control or reach in effective ways, we’re going to continue to see vulnerability on the Afghan side of the border. And so it’s very important for us to reach out to the Pakistani government and work with them more effectively.”
An indication the “smarter policy” included talks with the Taliban came in Barnett Rubin’s appointment as special envoy Richard Holbrook’s adviser. In a magazine article last December, Rubin proposed a “grand bargain” in which NATO would end military action if the Taliban agreed “to prohibit the use of Afghan (or Pakistani) territory for international terrorism”. Such an agreement, he argued, would constitute “a strategic defeat for Al Qaeda”.
More fighting: Pakistani officials also expect more fighting. Lt Gen (r) Talat Masood said: “There will be no let up in drone attacks, and no let up on Pakistan to do more on its territory.” The intensified attacks from the air would be augmented with a new police force drawn from special forces to hold ‘cleared’ areas. The US would also provide funds to help affected people rebuild homes and villages.
Daily Times (Pakistan)
