US seeks stepped up counter-insurgency training for Pakistan
ST PETERSBURG, Florida (AFP) — The commander of US forces in the Middle East said Wednesday the Pakistani military appears willing to work more closely with the US military on counter-insurgency efforts in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
Admiral William Fallon said the US military already has some training activities with the Pakistanis, but it would grow "in terms of focusing on the counter-insurgency, the unconventional problems that they are recognizing are really driving the program."
"We would like to -- assuming they are willing, and I think they are going to be -- make this more robust, to try to help them more. There is more willingness to do that now," said Fallon, who heads the Tampa, Forida based US Central Command.
In an interview with three wire service correspondents, Fallon said the new Pakistani military leader, General Ashfaq Kiyani, recognizes the threat to Pakistan emanating from Taliban and Al-Qaeda extremists ensconced in lawless tribal areas along the Afghan border.
"He understands," Fallon said. "I was very heartened by his understanding of what those problems are and what he needs to do to meet them. So we're going to try to help that."
Fallon provided few details, but said part of the effort involves US training and equipping of Pakistan's Frontier Corps, a tribally based force formed during British colonial rule to pacify the region.
The US overtures toward Pakistan come amid a wide-ranging review that Fallon is conducting of US strategy in neighboring Afghanistan, which has experienced rising violence over the past two years, amid the biggest insurgent challenge since the Taliban's ouster in 2001.
"You can't think about Afghanistan without Pakistan, because of the tremendous overlap on the border, (which is) the reality of the Pashtun tribal areas which encompass both countries," he said.
Besides the Taliban, US intelligence has warned that Al-Qaeda has regrouped in the border areas and Defense Secretary Robert Gates last month warned that it appeared to be turning its focus on destabilizing nuclear-armed Pakistan.
"Based on the events of the past six or so months in Pakistan, they (the Pakistanis) see now that they have real problems internally, and those are emanating from the west," Fallon said.
"My sense is, there is an increased willingness to address these problems, and we're going to help them," he said.
Fallon said coordination between US, Afghan and Pakistani has improved in recent months and "is really taking hold now."
But he said the border problems needed to be addressed in a comprehensive way with support of Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf and Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, who have had a contentious relationship in the past.
"If they are polarized, it's not going to work. My sense is that's improved," he said.
Fallon also gave an upbeat assessment of the situation in Afghanistan despite an upsurge in violence and the emergence of what officials say is a classic insurgency.
"Some say things are going to Hell in a handbasket and I'm trying to put a finger in the dike," Fallon said. "I think its the other way altogether. We're going to try to take advantage of where we are and spring forward to much better security next year."
The Pentagon announced Tuesday that it is sending 3,200 marines to Afghanistan in the spring, 2,200 of which will be used to beef up NATO-led combat forces in the south, a Taliban stronghold.
Fallon would not comment on the performance of the NATO-led troops in the south, but said US troops operating in eastern Afghanistan had sharply reduced violence in that troubled area through improved counter-insurgency tactics.
"I think we maintained the initiative, and what I'd like to do is push hard to expand security. I'd like to see more and more provinces in the situation that we find Khost province," he said.
"I will not pass judgement on the NATO gang down south, because I haven't spent that much time down there," he said. "But I see opportunities in the south that I would really like to capitalize on."
