Pakistan threatens US with retaliation

During his recent trip to Washington, Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Lt General Ahmed Shuja Pasha told the chief of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) General David Petraeus that Pakistan would be forced to retaliate if US forces launch a military offensive in the country’s Pak-Afghan tribal belt.

According to military sources in Rawalpindi, Pasha also made it clear that Pakistani felt betrayed by the blunt assessment of US Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen. Mullen had said that the ISI was using the Haqqani network as a proxy against the US. Amid escalating tensions, Pakistan’s top military commanders had already resolved on Sunday to respond materially to any American attack launched on Pakistan from the US-controlled and managed Afghanistan.

Pakistani defence analysts have discussed the ways that the US can launch attacks on Pakistani soil including a surgical strike in Pakistan like the May 2 operation that targeted Osama bin Laden or more drone strikes — that may go beyond the agreed upon lines in North Waziristan. If the US strikes in such a fashion, then the Pakistani military leadership may be pressured to respond, opine analysts.