US questions Pakistan force's allegiance, funding

[fatman17]

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World News, Business News, Breaking US & International News | Reuters.com

US questions Pakistan force's allegiance, funding

Fri May 30, 2008 WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - A U.S.-backed paramilitary force in Pakistan's lawless border area may be aiding Taliban fighters, according to American officials who say the support may cause Congress to freeze some security funds for Islamabad.

Signs that Pakistan's Frontier Corps is helping Taliban and al Qaeda-linked groups cross into Afghanistan only exacerbates U.S. frustration over Pakistan's plans to secure peace deals with fighters in that region, where Osama bin Laden is thought to hide.

"We cannot rely on Pakistan to stop the traffic of terrorists crossing that border despite the strong statements of its leaders," said Sen. Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who chairs the U.S. Senate's committee on armed forces.

Levin and some U.S. defense officials said Taliban fighters may also be getting assistance from Pakistan's army.

"If that's our intelligence assessment, then there's a real question as to whether or not we should be putting money into strengthening the Frontier Corps on the Pakistan side because if anything there's some evidence that the Pakistan army is providing support to the Taliban," Levin told reporters after visiting Afghanistan and Pakistan this week.

The United States set up a program last year to train and equip the paramilitary Frontier Corps, which is recruited from the tribal areas to counter Islamist militants.

Under the program, Washington planned to supply equipment like helmets and flak vests to the Frontier Corps, but would not provide weapons or ammunition, the Pentagon said last year.

U.S. Army trainers would instruct the paramilitary force and Washington allocated $52.6 million for the program last year.

A defense spending authorization bill for the 2009 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, includes $75 million for Frontier Corps training, but Levin said questions about the force could lead him to reconsider those funds.

'STRATEGIC CHALLENGE'

Uncertainty about the Frontier Corps' allegiances and the security impact of peace deals Pakistan strikes with al Qaeda-linked groups in its tribal areas is raising worry among U.S. commanders and defense officials.

They say a permissive environment in that region, known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA, has a direct effect on the number of attacks against Afghan, NATO and U.S. forces across the border in Afghanistan.

Several Taliban fighters have been killed in recent weeks in a string of apparent airstrikes on safe-houses in Pakistan conducted, according to Taliban and Pakistani officials, by unmanned U.S. aircraft.

Publicly, however, Pakistan has refused to allow the U.S. military to conduct operations inside its territory.

Adm. Eric Olson, commander of U.S. forces responsible for counterterrorism, would not say how Pakistan's refusal has affected his troops' ability to fight al Qaeda. But another general indicated Pakistan should realize it cannot fight the group alone.

"If I was chief of staff of the Pakistani army, I'd realize I had a pretty heavy rucksack to carry," said Maj. Gen. John Mulholland, commander of U.S. special forces in the region.

"The FATA is an area of sanctuary, it is an area of lethal aid. It is a challenge for us strategically," he said.

Despite concerns about stability in that area and the allegiances of Frontier Corps members, the Pentagon has moved forward with its training program for the force.

It has chosen two sites for training, one in the Peshawar area and one farther south, according to Michael Vickers, the Pentagon's assistant secretary for special operations.

"Training is expected to commence this summer, so site preparation is under way," Vickers told reporters at U.S. Special Operations Command headquarters in Florida. (Editing by David Alexander)

[muse]

The article is misleading. The problem is not Pak Fauj or FC, it is US policy. US has decided to be at war with any movement that may have a Islamist agenda, and it has decided that Pakistani interests in Afghanistan and central Asia are to be sidelined or at best, play a distant second fiddle to US objectives, which for the life of me, I cannot understand to be anything but war with Islamists and China .

It is these policies that are driving the dep disconnect the US is experiencing with so many governments and peoples around the world.

If the FC cannot be trusted, why would the US continue to put money into it?? Now, since US policy makers, at least when it comes to Pakistan, insist that there is no free lunch, what makes them think that the same does not apply to them??

Instead of confronting the problem of policy, the US policy makers, through the “free and independent” and “fair” media, have taken to pointing fingers seeking to place blame for their failures on others; It won’t work. There is no substitute for effective policy.

Afghanistan needs a political agreement and in particular one which can garner the support of Pakistan, but I don’t think we will see anything like it in the near future. Will a President Obama make a difference, no but a more reasonable and nimble policy might.

[ahussains]

This is not the First time they always say these types of stories in the Past that ISLAMABAD is funding some extreimist groups.

[fatman17]

the US policy makers, through the “free and independent” and “fair” media, have taken to pointing fingers seeking to place blame for their failures on others;

u must be joking indeed!

[IceCold]

Nothing new. One can see why the frustration level of US is increasing and it was kind of expected. However they should not question the ability or motivation of the PA or perhaps their loyality, because they are no body to do that. They need to realize that like all other institutions, army too comes under the civil control and if civil government thinks it needs to have a dialouge, army as an institution will respect that. If US has a problem with that they need to talk with the government rather coming up with false accusations like these.

[ejaz007]

Nothing new in this report. Americans always try to hide their failures and point fingers on others. If FC is involved then why don't they seal the other side of the border with US forces. They don't because then they won't have any one to blame.

[fatman17]

Nothing new in this report. Americans always try to hide their failures and point fingers on others. If FC is involved then why don't they seal the other side of the border with US forces. They don't because then they won't have any one to blame.

30,000 US troops cannot seal the 1,500 mile border between pakistan and afghanistan, no matter how sophisticated and tecnologically advanced their forces are. there is no substitute for boots on the ground and at US$ 70m/month the PA soldiers come dirt cheap that why we get all this -ve press.

[fatman17]

^^^DAWN and NATION are both reporting that the US has released US$500 mill in CSF (Colation Support Funds) and further the PA is re-thinking the US/PA initiative to train the FC is CI methods after the incident which killed 11 FC soldiers.

[Kharian_Beast]

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30,000 US troops cannot seal the 1,500 mile border between pakistan and afghanistan, no matter how sophisticated and tecnologically advanced their forces are. there is no substitute for boots on the ground and at US$ 70m/month the PA soldiers come dirt cheap that why we get all this -ve press.

What the US clearly wants is large columns of Pakistani armored and mechanized infantry sweeping through our own villages, mowing down people who have been charged with no crime without any evidence. Anything less than that and we are terrorist sympathizers. Sounds good....