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Posted on 05/05/2011 12:54:06 PM PDT by library user
PAKISTAN'S military has demanded the US cut its troop presence in the country to a "minimum" as the fallout from the killing of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden intensifies.
After days of questions in Washington over how bin Laden could find shelter in the town of Abbottabad, army chief of staff General Ashfaq Kayani threatened to "review" cooperation with the US in the event of another similar raid.
Pakistan is a key US ally in the war against Islamist militants in Afghanistan, but the relationship between Washington and Islamabad was tense even before the architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks was gunned down by US commandos on Monday.
Overnight, Pakistan's military admitted there had been "shortcomings" in developing intelligence on bin Laden's whereabouts and said an investigation had been ordered.
But it said Gen Kayani had told army corps commanders "about the decision to reduce the strength of US military personnel in Pakistan to the minimum level", without saying who had made the decision.
Mr Kayani "made it very clear that any similar action violating the sovereignty will warrant a review of military, intelligence cooperation with the US".
The exact number of US military personnel in Pakistan is not known.
The presence of US Special Operations troops was uncovered by a 2010 suicide attack in which three were killed, with officials confirming 200 US military personnel were in the country.
Last month The New York Times reported about 335 American personnel, including CIA officers and Special Operations forces, were being asked to leave Pakistan in the wake of the killing of two men by CIA contractor Raymond Davis.
Gen Kayani's comments came after Pakistan said the notion that its powerful spies work hand in glove with al-Qaeda "flies in the face" of the truth.
"It's easy to say that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) or elements within the government were in cahoots with al-Qaeda," top foreign ministry official Salman Bashir said.
"This is a false hypothesis. This is a false charge. It cannot be validated on any account and it flies in the face of what Pakistanis and, in particular, the Inter-Services Intelligence has been able to accomplish," he said.
In Washington and beyond there is incredulity that bin Laden could have found shelter under the noses of the military establishment in Abbottabad, a leafy garrison town just two hours' drive from the capital.
Some US lawmakers are demanding a cut to the billions in aid that flow to Pakistan each year, which is meant to shore up both nations' uneasy alliance as US-led forces fight the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.
CIA chief Leon Panetta has said Washington kept Islamabad in the dark about the bin Laden raid for fear of the al-Qaeda chief being tipped off.
In a country where anti-US sentiment runs deep, there is rampant scepticism about the US version of events, which has been fuelled by the White House's decision not to release gruesome photographs of bin Laden's body.
Citing national security risks, President Barack Obama said yesterday the US should not brandish "trophies" of its victory.
"It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence, as a propaganda tool," he told 60 Minutes.
"That's not who we are. You know, we don't trot out this stuff as trophies," Mr Obama said, arguing that DNA and facial recognition testing had proved beyond doubt the Saudi-born extremist was dead.
The "very graphic" nature of the scene described by Mr Obama appeared to be shown in photos obtained by the Reuters news agency of three unidentified dead men in the Abbottabad house - none of whom resembled bin Laden.
Aside from bin Laden, US and Pakistani officials say four people were killed in the raid - including two brothers who were trusted al-Qaeda couriers and one believed to have been a son of bin Laden.
One of bin Laden's children, now in custody along with a Yemeni wife of the slain al-Qaeda leader, saw her father shot dead, a Pakistani intelligence official said.
The girl, reported to be 12 years old, "was the one who confirmed to us that Osama was dead and shot and taken away", said the Pakistani official.
Even without photographic proof, hardline religious groups in Pakistan have offered prayers for bin Laden, rather than taking to the streets and insisting he is still alive.
But Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's oldest religious party, gave vent to a widespread sense of national shame that US forces had struck with impunity deep into Pakistani territory.
"It was a clear violation of our sovereignty, it was an act of aggression even if Osama bin Laden was there or not," said Khurshid Ahmed, the party's vice-president.
In the most detailed public discussion of the operation yet by the Pakistani government, a top official at the foreign ministry said American helicopters had flown at a low altitude to escape Pakistani radars.
Salman Bashir said it was only when one of them crashed near bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad that suspicions were roused.
Bin Laden's body was buried at sea off a US warship to prevent any grave on land from becoming a shrine. The Abbottabad villa that served as his lair has instead become a macabre monument for locals and media alike.
Mr Obama was to lay a wreath in memory of the 9/11 victims during a visit overnight to Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center was toppled by airliners hijacked by al-Qaeda operatives.
The White House said he would meet victims' families in private but would not make a speech, in an apparent sign he is wary of his trip being seen as an overtly political affair.
While quietly rejoicing at the elimination of America's most wanted man, the Obama administration has been forced to defend the legality of the raid, after acknowledging bin Laden was unarmed when he was shot in the head.
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said the UN, while condemning terrorism, demanded that anti-terrorism operations comply with international law.
"I'm still for a full disclosure of the accurate facts" regarding the raid, she said in Oslo.
They have nukes. If we cut off aid, and the government gets overthrow, then we don’t know who will control those nukes.
We’re pretty much screwed on this one.
US troops on the ground in Pakistan? LOL... does Obama know this?
Cut off all aid and diplomatic ties to Pakistan now.
Let the government and the people there suffer the consequences of living under Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
And if those asswipes are foolish enough to use nuclear weapons against the US, we will turn the entire country of Pakistan into a parking lot.
Aww, Pakistan is so sore at US forces for having nabbed OBL in their midst. And Pakistan likely knows who else of interest is still there.
US plays nice with Pakistan because the alternative, of losing the entire Pakistani government (such as it is) to the same set of extremists who are behind their infamous “blasphemy laws,” is even less attractive. It’s a frank payoff.
I heard we had plans in place to take out their nukes under just such a possibility.
We should take them out the same way we took out Bin Ladden, and cut off all aid to the bastards and pull all our military out of there.
Support the Indians. Most of them are Hindus or Sikhs and they hate Muslims more than we do.
As if the people of Pakistan had any way to work an anti-Islamic revolution even if they wanted it.
With Obama as CIC? Hardy har har.
The idea would be to remove nukes, troops and aid. If they want to be done w/ us then its an all or nothing deal. An extension would be to remove, by any means necessary, individuals capable of leading another bomb project. Sadly, this will never happen...but its good to think of purely positive outcomes anyway.
I think that this is political positioning of a very weak government in Pakistan. They can not take a hard stand with or against terrorists. They are trapped in the middle.
So go get them.
Since when do countries like this demand anything from us? They get aid and demand...?
Think of the political fallout if he didn’t.
Obama wouldn’t be able to get elected as a dog catcher much less re elected president.
He’d be toast.
Like we WANT to be there, like it is such a great place to hang out.
Sheesh, don't they understand we wouldn't be there unless we HAD TO BE THERE. Apology for shouting, but these people are nuts.
So park the troops right across the border in India. Tell Pakistan’s relatively moderate generals that if they find their fat in the extremist Islam fire the US will send its troops back if Obama “feels like it.”
I am with ya on this.
It’s just a contract. We give them aid, we do what we want and they shut up.
Less “do what we want” = Less aid.
It’s simple.
Their govt. has already been overthrown in the past. Former PM Bhutto was removed by military coup, then executed. His daughter would likely have been elected some years later, but was killed while campaigning. Pakistan is a violent hellhole, and the Army is the only real power. They probably kept Osama alive so they could keep milking us for billions in aid, which they spent on weapons to use against India, plus personal benefits for their military clique.
“They have nukes. If we cut off aid, and the government gets overthrow, then we don’t know who will control those nukes.
We’re pretty much screwed on this one.”
No they are ,we send in a team and detonate the stuff in place.
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