Frustrated by half-hearted approach by Pakistan to tackle terrorism and alarming evidence of al-Qaeda and Taliban retrenchment in the northern part of the country, the US preferred using tough words and actions against President Pervez Musharraf instead of diplomacy to pressurise a key ally in its war against terror.
Washington, Aug 5 : Frustrated by half-hearted approach by Pakistan to tackle terrorism and alarming evidence of al-Qaeda and Taliban retrenchment in the northern part of the country, the US preferred using tough words and actions against President Pervez Musharraf instead of diplomacy to pressurise a key ally in its war against terror.
The Bush Administration, apprehensive of the diplomatic fallout of the harsh tone, took months to decide on the new course of action that began with a stream of high-powered visitors flying from Washington to Islamabad early this year.
All of them, beginning with US Defence Secretary Robert M. Gates, pressurised Musharraf through "quiet diplomacy" to take direct action against what analysts say was a newly assertive al-Qaeda rebuilding a stronghold in the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) in Pakistan to plan attacks against western targets, similar to the period before 9/11.
Vice President Dick Cheney and other US officials showed Musharraf sensitive intelligence revealing a substantial increase in al-Qaeda activity in NWFP.
The Bush Administration, which was earlier optimistic of Pakistan's deal with tribals, found that the accord had backfired in its aim of keeping al Qaeda elements out of its territory, and conveyed the same to Musharraf.
"Intelligence gleaned from captured Taliban fighters, communications intercepts and overhead surveillance showed that the terrorists had exploited the vacuum created by departing Pakistani troops. Using a combination of bribes and intimidation, foreign fighters had secured the protection of tribal leaders and had begun boldly rebuilding a network largely dismantled during the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan," a report in the Washington Post stated.
The daily stated that as per the US intelligence, Taliban militants had renewed the smuggling of weapons and explosives for attacks inside Afghanistan, and al-Qaeda members were freely using Pakistani airports to travel to Central Asia, Afghanistan and Iran.
The al-Qaeda started concentrating its expanding infrastructure in North Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan with mobile and smaller training camps.
"These people adapt to the measures that the Pakistanis and we have pushed against them: how they congregate, how they train, how they move money," the daily quoted an unnamed US intelligence official, as saying.
Dreaded terrorists Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, had successfully replaced upper-level officials and lieutenants killed or captured by U.S. and allied forces.
Amidst these piling reports, the Bush Administration was divided over the tactics since White House was unsure how much pressure to apply on Musharraf fearing collapse of the "crucial U.S.-Pakistan partnership", while military officials on the other hand got increasingly frustrated with Islamabad's reluctance to tackle terrorists who were gaining strength as the days passed.
In the end there was a turnaround with Musharraf deploying two additional brigades in the tribal areas and began the siege of the controversial Lal Masjid.
However, US intelligence specialists attribute these actions not on the US' harsh tones but to the General's own domestic worries.
As Frances Fragos Townsend, White House Homeland Security Adviser, puts it that Musharraf's anti-terrorism plan hasn't worked either for Pakistan or for the United States.
ANI