WASHINGTON (AP) - The commander of U.S. forces in Central Asia has launched planning for more extensive use of U.S. troops to train Pakistani armed forces, a senior defense official said Wednesday.
| Oh, this is a bad idea ... |
Adm. William J. Fallon, commander of U.S. Central Command, issued a planning order, an internal instruction to lower-level commanders, to propose ideas for a long-term approach to helping Pakistan combat what has become an expanding, homegrown insurgency that threatens the stability of the government.
| I don't think training is the major issue with the Pak army's inability/unwillingness to confront the Talibs ... |
Fallon's intent is to develop new approaches to help Pakistan, with a time horizon stretching to 2015, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the order has not been made public. A central assumption in the planning is that no such U.S. training contribution would be made without the Pakistani government's prior approval, the official said.
In an interview last week during a conference with Middle Eastern defense chiefs in Florida, Fallon said Pakistan is taking a more welcoming view of U.S. suggestions for using American troops to train and advise its own forces in the fight against anti-government extremists.
| Anything to deflect responsibility for their own failures ... |
Fallon said he believes increased violence inside Pakistan in recent months has led Pakistani leaders to conclude that they must focus more intensively on extremist al-Qaida hideouts near the border with Afghanistan. ``They see they've got real problems internally,'' Fallon said. ``My sense is there is an increased willingness to address these problems, and we're going to try to help them.'' He said U.S. assistance would be ``more robust,'' but he offered few details. ``There is more willingness to do that now'' on Pakistan's part, he said.
| I think Adm. Fallon is being led down the garden path ... |
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