Afstan: Dealing with the Pakistan "sanctuary"

Looks like the US will do something serious:

U.S. Troops to Head to Pakistan

Beginning early next year, U.S. Special Forces are expected to vastly expand their presence in Pakistan, as part of an effort to train and support indigenous counter-insurgency forces and clandestine counterterrorism units, according to defense officials involved with the planning.

These Pakistan-centric operations will mark a shift for the U.S. military and for U.S. Pakistan relations. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the U.S. used Pakistani bases to stage movements into Afghanistan. Yet once the U.S. deposed the Taliban government and established its main operating base at Bagram, north of Kabul, U.S. forces left Pakistan almost entirely. Since then, Pakistan has restricted U.S. involvement in cross-border military operations as well as paramilitary operations on its soil.

But the Pentagon has been frustrated by the inability of Pakistani national forces to control the borders or the frontier area. And Pakistan's political instability has heightened U.S. concern about Islamic extremists there.

According to Pentagon sources, reaching a different agreement with Pakistan became a priority for the new head of the U.S. Special Operations Command, Adm. Eric T. Olson. Olson visited Pakistan in August, November and again this month, meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Gen. Tariq Majid and Lt. Gen. Muhammad Masood Aslam, commander of the military and paramilitary troops in northwest Pakistan. Olson also visited the headquarters of the Frontier Corps, a separate paramilitary force recruited from Pakistan's border tribes.

Now, a new agreement, reported when it was still being negotiated last month, has been finalized. And the first U.S. personnel could be on the ground in Pakistan by early in the new year, according to Pentagon sources.

U.S. Central Command Commander Adm. William Fallon alluded to the agreement and spoke approvingly of Pakistan's recent counterterrorism efforts in an interview with Voice of America last week.

"What we've seen in the last several months is more of a willingness to use their regular army units," along the Afghan border, Fallon said. "And this is where, I think, we can help a lot from the U.S. in providing the kind of training and assistance and mentoring based on our experience with insurgencies recently and with the terrorist problem in Iraq and Afghanistan, I think we share a lot with them, and we'll look forward to doing that."

If Pakistan actually follows through, perhaps 2008 will be a better year.

By William M. Arkin | December 26, 2007

An earlier story:

U.S. Hopes to Use Pakistani Tribes Against Al Qaeda

Update: It'll be interesting to see what effect the assassination of Benazir Bhutto has--on the US military involvement in Pakistan and on the sanctuary more broadly:

Fresh from a trip to Afghanistan, Laurie Hawn said Thursday the assassination of Benazir Bhutto only reinforces the need for Canadian troops to stay in the troubled region.

Hawn, MP for Edmonton Centre [now Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, and a former Air Force fighter pilot], said that the death of the former Pakistani prime minister goes to show the presence of the Canadian forces is necessary for bringing stability to the area.

“There are elements out there that just flat-out do not want stability to come to that part of the world, which again is all the more reason why Canada needs to stay involved,” said Hawn adding that what happens in Pakistan is bound to affect neighbouring Afghanistan.

Hawn arrived at the Edmonton International Airport Thursday afternoon after spending Christmas in Afghanistan, visiting the troops and assessing the country’s progress.

“We’re giving them their lives back,” he said...

Upperdate: Another reason for prime minister Harper to be grumpy:

U.S. Fears Greater Turmoil In Region
Pakistan's Crisis Could Affect War In Afghanistan