Threats, Options and Risks in Pakistan

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/03/pakistan_strikes.html?elqIsAgent=True

SOURCE: AP/Hasbunallah Khan

Pakistani tribesmen show pieces of missile in a house damaged by a suspected U.S. missile in Zharki village, near Miran Shah, in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.

By Colin Cookman | March 5, 2009

On March 1, two missiles from a remote-piloted American aircraft struck a camp in the Sararogha region of South Waziristan. At least seven people were reportedly killed, including four Arab Al Qaeda fighters; few other details emerged, and the incident passed largely without remark. Covert strikes along Pakistan’s border, initially a relatively rare occurrence, have taken place with increasing frequency since the summer of 2008, when the Bush administration reportedly authorized an expansion of the covert targeting program in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Although operations have slowed from a peak tempo of multiple strikes per week, they have continued under the Obama administration, with two occurring just three days after the president’s inauguration.

US Centcom Reveals Startling Data about Pakistan’s Role in Attacks on Afghanistan

By Shaheen Sehbai

WASHINGTON: The US Central Command (Centcom) has provided startling official data of what General Pervez Musharraf’s Pakistan did for the US in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) against Afghanistan, allowing 57,800 US air attacks from Pak soil with the Pakistan economy suffering a staggering loss of US$ 10 billion.

05/19/03: (South Asia Tribune) This is the first official estimate of losses suffered by Pakistan, given by the US military high command and analysts say these figures could now be used extensively by the anti-American political forces in Pakistan to pressurize General Pervez Musharraf and his Government to explain his Taliban U-Turn and justify what Pakistan received in return.

With the upcoming visit of General Musharraf to the White House in Washington, or to Camp David in Maryland, as some Pakistani diplomats are now trying, this data will strengthen his case for more US aid as the Afghan situation has not yet fully settled as envisaged by the US. Pakistan’s strategic and military help is still a key factor in containing the anti-US elements.

The Centcom figures are far in excess of what Pakistani Government officials and experts have been claiming, the highest claim being US$ 2-3 billion. In contrast, what the US has offered to Pakistan so far, a US$ 1 billion write-off of loans, looks like as spoon of tomato ketchup in place of a full fledged state banquet.

“This is a goldmine of political ammunition for the religious right wing forces, like the MMA, to blast the US and the Musharraf Government,” one analyst said.

These figures have been revealed in a detailed review of Pakistan’s role in the operation and are specifically mentioned under the title “Effects of Operation Enduring Freedom on Economy of Pakistan” at the US Centcom web site, a huge resource about the US and coalition activities under the Command.