Debates on for "more direct US military action" against Pak

SILICON VALLEY: An increasing frustration with Pakistans refusal to accept US military training for its army despite intensified Al Qaeda efforts has once again provoked the debate for a more direct US military action in the tribal areas of the Islamic nations.

"The internal debates have taken on new urgency amid US intelligence warnings that Al Qaeda and other militant groups are flourishing in northwestern Pakistan," the Los Angeles Times reported.

At the same time, there is a growing belief within the US government that the new leadership in Islamabad has proved to be ineffectual and is preoccupied with internal squabbling in the wake of former President Pervez Musharraf's resignation, the newspaper added.

There is a growing concern in the Pentagon that it will be extremely difficult to defeat the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan or the growing power of Al Qaeda within Pakistan unless Pakistans tribal areas stop being safe haven for militants.

"Radical terrorist groups in the border regions have undermined and fought against the central government of Pakistan and carved out sanctuaries and training bases," a senior US officer in Afghanistan told the LA Times.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said "They have come back, and they are presenting a significant challenge."

The US Government, which has sent billions of dollars to Pakistan in recent years to battle extremists, has refrained from direct intervention in Pakistan because of the fear of fanning anti-US sentiments in the country.

Instead, as a first step in a crucial US-Pakistani military program on counterinsurgency cooperation, Pentagon was to send some 30 military trainers to a base near Peshawar this summer.

The mission was to teach Pakistan Frontier Corps units counterinsurgency skills critical for fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda and the troops were to stay until next year.

But Pentagon officials said that Pakistani government has blocked the training for months. Instead Pakistani officials insist they have taken more aggressive action in the tribal area and plan to send a US-trained unit of its Special Service Group into the tribal regions.

However, the US officials remain skeptical about Pakistani militarys commitment to perform such a mission, while CIA operatives question the armys capability to carry out such a mission.

A former CIA operative who worked in Pakistan told the paper "I genuinely believe that if we are going to eliminate Al Qaeda and the senior leadership, we have to go where they are, and they are in the tribal areas of Pakistan."