IPFS News Link • WAR: About that War
IPFS News Link • WAR: About that War
WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Washington's push on Pakistan to get
tough on militants on its territory is prompted by worries about an
attack on U.S. soil, a concern the United States will press in talks
with Islamabad later this month. A U.S. official last week
countered suggestions that the tougher approach is driven by the need to
show progress ahead of the Oct. 22 talks by an Obama administration
strategy review of the war in Afghanistan in December. The failed
Times Square bombing in May and the recent terrorism alert for Europe
fueled fears of an attack, prompting the stepped up drone attacks in
Pakistan's rugged northwest and pointed U.S. comments pressing
Islamabad's to pursue militants more aggressively. "There is
really mounting concern that we are extremely vulnerable to an attack
from a group in Pakistan that could occur," the U.S. official said,
speaking on condition of anonymity. Such an attack would trigger a critical change in ties with Islamabad, the official warned.
"(An attack) will change the nature of the relationship, not because
necessarily it makes sense to, but because the congressional outcry and
the public outcry will be such that you will have to dramatically do
things quite differently," the official added.