US-Pakistani Military Brass Meet On Aircraft Carrier To Talk About Combating Militants

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

10:51 AM EDT, August 28, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) _ With violence worsening in Afghanistan and Pakistan, top U.S. military officers secretly met commanders from Islamabad on an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean to talk about what else could be done.

The meeting Tuesday came after several weeks of Pakistani offensives against militants in the country's volatile northwest — an effort American officials welcomed but said Thursday has come nowhere near to stemming growing problems near the Afghan border.

The meeting aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln was the latest of several between Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and General Ashfaq Kayani, chief of staff of the Pakistani army.

U.S. defense officials said that this time Mullen also brought Gen. David Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, who will soon leave to become the senior commander in the Middle East; Adm. Eric T. Olson, head of the Special Operations Command; Gen. David McKiernan, NATO's commander in Afghanistan; Lt. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, acting commander of American forces in the Middle East; and Rear Adm. Michael LeFever, American military liaison in Pakistan.

A U.S. official familiar with the discussion said Tuesday's meeting was "more collaborative," compared to a similar meeting a month ago when Mullen took a "more firm tone" in warning Kayani that Islamabad was not doing enough to counter militants waging cross-border attacks in Afghanistan.

Read more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-us-pakistan-afghan,0,7335860.story

[ohio2007]

1. Pakistani city of Peshawar could fall to Taliban as fear and attacks grow

Pakistani city of Peshawar could fall to Taliban as fear and attacks grow

Should they let their daughters go back to lessons in the rubble of their school, blown up by the Taliban in the middle of the night, or should they keep them safe at home?

Hashim, the caretaker who was held at gunpoint by masked gunmen, was warned that they would be back if the school is rebuilt. He fears that next time they could blow it up with pupils inside.

Yet this is not Kandahar, the Taliban capital of southern Afghanistan, but Peshawar - a city of 1.4 million people in neighbouring Pakistan, once celebrated as a cultural haven for artists, musicians and intellectuals.

A year ago schools were considered safe in the city, the capital of North-West Frontier Province. But the Taliban insurgency that has been growing in the wild mountains that rise in the distance is spreading into urban Pakistan.

Clerics and political leaders critical of the Taliban have been kidnapped and shot dead, around 15 suicide bombers have attacked inside the city, and to escape kidnappers businessmen are giving up and moving to the capital Islamabad, two hours drive away, or overseas to Dubai if they can afford to.

Nobody has ever known the city so fearful.



snip

"It is unsafe to say anything against the Taliban because they will come and kill you," he said over a cup of green tea, before listing the moderate clerics who have been murdered for speaking out against suicide bombers – now known as "suiciders" in Pakistani English.

"The Taliban are growing in number and it is quite possible that they could take control of Peshawar," he said. "The Government could stop them, certainly, but it is too preoccupied with political infighting."

Since Pervez Musharraf was forced from office a fortnight ago, the ruling coalition has fallen apart amid bitter recriminations, leaving Pakistan hovering on the brink of violent political turmoil.

The former coalition partners, Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari, are now preparing to fight an electoral battle for control of the country - but their feuding has raised a disturbing question: can the eventual winner cope with the terrorism that threatens to destroy their troubled nation?

snip
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/2650734/Pakistani-city-of-Peshawar-could-fall-to-Taliban-as-fear-and-attacks-grow.html

The civil war is breaking up the country.

[The Croquist]

2. This sounds fishy to me.

Pakistan doesn't have an impressive history of civilian government and a meeting on a US ship is a meeting that is safe from eavesdropping. If there is a coup in Pakistan anytime soon I'll be wondering about exactly what was discussed here.