US lawmakers express doubts on Pak willingness to fight terror

Powerful US Congressmen and top intelligence officials of the Obama Administration have expressed their doubts on the "willingness" and capacity of Pakistan to successfully fight the terrorists within its territories.
 
Participating in a Congressional hearing on "Current and Future World Threats", the lawmakers said given the past history of Pakistan they have doubts on its willingness to launch a whole hearted fight against the terrorists, many of whom like the Lashkar-e-Taiba were supported by them.

Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Dennis Blair, the National Intelligence Director and Michael Maples, the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said while Islamabad has launched an offensive against the militants in the past one year, the results have been mixed.

"In 2008, Islamabad intensified counter-insurgency efforts but its record in dealing with militants has been mixed. It balances conflicting internal and counter-terrorist priorities," Blair said.
 
"A government is losing authority in the north and the west and even in the more developed parts of the country mounting economic hardships and frustration over poor governance have given rise to greater radicalisation," he said.

"I have doubts, however, as to whether Pakistan has the will or the capacity to make significant changes in the near-term. Achieving a basic change in Pakistan's strategic security policy will take time," said Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Committee of Armed Services.

"But we cannot make progress in Afghanistan or the defense of America against an Al-Qaeda attack dependent on a hoped for change in Pakistan's calculus and capabilities," he said.
 
Observing that terrorists have also become a clear threat to Pakistan's security and the source of major global terrorist threat from Al-Qaeda, Levin said: "The United States and our allies have to develop alternatives to address Pakistan's security concerns and persuade Pakistan to make a fundamental break with its past policies."
 
Levin said Afghan Taliban forces under Mullah Omar operate with impunity from Pakistan's Baluchistan province crossing unhampered into Southern Afghanistan.

"Other large Pakistan military forces now dominate major portions of the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA, in the northwest Frontier province. It is in these regions that Al Qaida is based and from which attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan itself are launched," he said.

Both Blair and Maples agreed with Levin and said the Taliban bodies operate openly in Pakistan.

"The Quetta shura is operating openly, as you know, in Quetta. I believe it is more in relation to the effect on the Pakistani population, in particular the Pashtun population in Pakistan that causes the Pakistani government to move at a slower pace.

"And they have not taken action against that Quetta shura," Maples said.
 
"It's true that the Taliban governing bodies operate quite freely in Pakistan. The Pakistan approach to handling that threat is a combination of lack of capability, their overall approach in which they believe that there needs to be compromise and cooperation with some groups in that area and their assessment of the threat of that group to Pakistan as
opposed to Afghanistan," Blair said.

Responding to a question from Senator John McCain, Maples said: "There is direct link between the Taliban, the Quetta Shura, the Haghani and the Miram Shah Shura, in particular with Al Qaida in Pakistan."
 
So, there is an exchange of information, of training, of expertise, and a sharing of capabilities in producing trained individuals who later conduct attacks in Afghanistan, he said.