Pakistan president tells US to stay out

[t-birds]

By CHRIS BRUMMITT, Associated Press Writer




ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Despite the growing threat from Islamic extremists, President Pervez Musharraf said U.S. troops are not welcome to join the fight against al-Qaida on Pakistani soil.

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Musharraf warned in an interview published Friday that Pakistan would resist any unilateral military action by the United States against militants sheltering in its lawless, tribal regions close to the Afghan border.

"I challenge anybody coming into our mountains," he told Singapore's The Straits Times in the interview notable for its unusually strident language. "They would regret that day."

The Pakistan-Afghan border has long been considered a likely hiding place for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his top deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, as well as a staging ground for Taliban militants planning attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan.

The New York Times reported last week that Washington was considering expanding the authority of the CIA and the U.S. military to launch aggressive covert operations within the tribal regions. Several U.S. presidential candidates have also hinted they would support unilateral action in the area.

Musharraf said U.S. troops would "certainly" be considered invaders if they set foot in the tribal regions without his permission. A full transcript of the interview was published on the paper's Web site.

Musharraf also said in the interview that he would resign if opposition parties tried to impeach him after parliamentary elections set for Feb. 18.

Pakistan's opposition is expected to make gains in the elections amid widespread sympathy for opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated Dec. 27. Opposition groups say they would try and oust the president, although it is still doubtful they could muster the two-thirds parliamentary majority required.

Musharraf — who seized power in a military coup eight years ago — is seen as vulnerable to impeachment over his decision to fire Supreme Court judges and suspend the constitution last year.

"If that (impeachment) happens, let me assure that I'd be leaving office before they would do anything. If they won with this kind of majority and they formed a government that had the intention of doing this, I wouldn't like to stick around," he said. "I would like to quit the scene."

On Thursday, a suicide bombing by a suspected Islamic extremist in the eastern city of Lahore killed 24 people in the first major attack since Bhutto's assassination. All but three of the dead in the bombing outside the High Court were police officers.

Investigators reconstructed the face of the suicide bomber and took prints off his severed fingers on Friday as they probed the attack, which exposed Pakistan's growing vulnerability to Islamic extremists ahead of the elections.

The bombing was the latest in a series of at least 20 suicide attacks in the country over the past three months that have killed around 400 people, many of them security officers.

Lahore police released a photo of the bomber — who appears to be around 30 years old with medium-length black hair and a thin mustache and beard — after reconstructing his mutilated face. Investigators also recovered prints from two of his fingers and were trying to match them with those in a national database, said Lahore anti-terrorism police officer Masood Aziz.

_____

Associated Press writer Asif Shahzad in Lahore contributed to this report.

 

[IceCold]

do u think USA will ask musharraf before entering in pakistan.??

I dont think so

US will not and perhaps that is the very reason such a warning is being issued by a pro US leader.
Musharraf for the first time duing his eight years made a statement like this. This means that the stakes were high enough and even after this if US does try to carry on with the misadventure, then it might lead to a start of a new conflict in the SA, beacuse rest assured pakistan wouldnt allow any third party to conduct military actions on pakistani soil. It will only be done by pakistan itself.

 

[F.O.X]

They would regret that day."

It looks like Musharaf has had enough.
As i always said that Musharaf untill he is alive will not allow US to intrude Pakistani soil, even if he has to do it with courtesy what he has done befor or with Threat which he is doing right now. ALL HE NEED IS OUR SUPPORT.

"Abhi tu Dushmni ka aagaz hai,
Anjaam ka hum ko paata hi nahi,"


Regards
Wilco

 

[blain2]

Musharraf is an intelligent guy. Let me quote what was essentially said. It goes without saying that anyone sending in forces into Pakistan without the consent of GoP would be seen as aggressors and subject to military resistance.

Musharraf warns US against entering Pak

Islamabad (PTI): President Pervez Musharraf has said any unauthorised incursion by US forces into Pakistan to pursue al Qaeda militants would be treated as an invasion, warning that US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan would "regret" such a misadventure.

"The United States seems to think that what our army cannot do, they can do. This is a very wrong perception. I challenge anybody to come into our mountains. They would regret that day," Musharraf said in an interview to Straits Times.

The New York Times reported earlier this month that Washington was considering granting the Pentagon and CIA new authority to conduct more aggressive covert operations in Pakistan's tribal areas where al Qaeda is believed to be gaining strength.

Asked if any unauthorised incursion by US forces would be considered an invasion, Musharraf replied: "Certainly. If they come without our permission, that's against the sovereignty of Pakistan."

Musharraf, however, said when it comes to Qaeda supremo Osama bin Laden, the "methodology of getting him will be discussed together and we'll attack the target together".

"Any action against him will be free, if we know where he is, if we have good intelligence," he said.

The President said US forces alone would fare no better than their Pakistani counterparts in the rugged terrain.

"Here it's a mountainous terrain. Minimal communications infrastructure. Every individual has a weapon and each tribe has its own armoury and they don't like intrusions into their privacy at all," he said, adding "it's better if they ask some military or intelligence commander of their own whether their army, their people, coming into our mountains will operate better than our army."

The last bolded part is a snipe at the idiots in the US Presidential race.

 

[solid snake]

The US army is not stupid and will not start a war with a nuclear armed nation. Besides, if we're attacked there is a possibility, maybe even a probability that China will be pulled into the conflict.

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

t-birds,

What is the link?

 

[roadrunner]

The US army is not stupid and will not start a war with a nuclear armed nation. Besides, if we're attacked there is a possibility, maybe even a probability that China will be pulled into the conflict.

Pakistan cannot retaliate against America with nuclear weapons. It's impossible. Accept reality. Pakistan is a very much improving nation economically, educationally, and technologically, but it still has some way to go. But the US would be stupid to attack Pakistan, not because China will do much, but because it will open up a Pandora's Box that they don't want to see opened.

 

[Energon]

I don't think the USA has any interest in invading Pakistan per se. The US armed forces are referring to hot pursuits, occasional interdiction campaigns and covert operations by the CIA and special operations forces. It is unlikely that China will get involved militarily if/when this happens.

The root of the problem is that the USA no longer trusts the PA and Musharraf to do this job on account of corruption, inside politics and or incompetence.

"The United States seems to think that what our army cannot do, they can do. This is a very wrong perception. I challenge anybody to come into our mountains. They would regret that day," Musharraf said in an interview to Straits Times.

I don't see much to this comment. The USA can in fact do a lot in the mountains which no other military can do as clearly shown by their success in Afghanistan 2001-2003. The problem then however was that their operations were limited within Afghan borders and they could do nothing with the fighters who were slipping into Pakistan, re grouping and then launching attacks by using bases located in Pakistan.

But if they are to take this war into the mountains of Pakistan, they will more than likely achieve similar results; especially when they bring in more soldiers and hardware. The only place the USA is incapable of fighting is in heavily populated urban areas. Fighting in Iraqi cities is very very difficult and fighting in a Pakistani city would be impossible (given the dense population and the general lay out); but as I said before, it is highly doubtful that the USA has any intention of conducting large scale military operations in the urban areas of Pakistan. Nonetheless, in the mountains, the tribal fighters don't stand a chance.

I highly doubt if Musharraf is unaware of this fact. However there is no way he can admit to this publicly without running the risk of losing all support and respect and subsequently his seat in power. He has to issue his signatory warnings for now.

The USA is ratcheting up its efforts in Afghanistan as Iraq simmers down, and I will be very surprised if they don't in fact take this fight into the mountainous strongholds of western Pakistan. I think the best way to not let this problem get out of hand or severely compromise Musharraf is to credit a lot of the action to the Pakistan Army. This way both parties get what they want.

Then again, General Kiyani could surprise everybody and go full force into the region himself. But given that the PA doesn't possess the kind of hardware the US Armed forces have I'm not sure how much they can really achieve.

 

[Black Stone]

Invading Pakistan is just crazy.

 

[mujahideen]

Under no circumstances will we allow such an action to occur on Pakistni soil by U.S. forces or any other country. President Musharraf is right, such acts will result in a declaration of war. We will not bow to these threats we are a soverign nation and will defend ourselves using any means necessary. If they want to come I say let them come but I warn then no Pakistan will rest until the enemy is defeated.
PAK FAUJ ZINDABAD
PAKISTAN PAINDABAD

 

[blain2]

Pakistan cannot retaliate against America with nuclear weapons. It's impossible. Accept reality. Pakistan is a very much improving nation economically, educationally, and technologically, but it still has some way to go. But the US would be stupid to attack Pakistan, not because China will do much, but because it will open up a Pandora's Box that they don't want to see opened.

I agree that Pakistan is not going to respond with nuclear weapons to a conventional attack by the US, however I think the possibility remains that a US invasion or attack on Pakistan would unleash considerable instability and actually undermine US efforts for the ongoing GWOT and also for the security of Pakistani weapon systems.

I think any US incursion in the tribal areas would be met by more resistance and this time the resistance would not be limited to the tribals...folks from Punjab and Sind would be going up north even if Pakistani Armed forces officially sit out.

I concur with you and would also add that these assumptions about China or so and so coming to Pakistan's assistance is just wishful thinking. No less than Musharraf (a first in the history of Pakistan) as the President of Pakistan has made comments that Pakistan is all alone. There is no backup and there is no one coming to our aid. Realistically nobody (at a state level) would be stupid enough to openly come to the aid of Pakistan if she were subjected to a US invasion. So we need to be realistic in how we perceive these threats.

 

[MastanKhan]

Energon,

Sir, you are mistaken---2001---2003 was the time when u s army found out that it was a failure it high altitude warfare. It was caught with its pants down at tora bora when the mighty tripped and fell on their faces---there were more news crew at tora bora than the u s milltary.

The problem over here is the the u s army and the admin has been lying to the people---it does not want to go after the high value target---as was very evident at tora bora---5 years ago and strangely last year in 2007 around july when they let his group slip through one more time guess where---at tora bora one more time---about three years ago pakistan caught the computer guy in pakistan---the u s, against all attempts from pakistan released that info to the public----Musharraf was furious---he stated the the target was missed by 45 minutes.

Going back to the mountains---it is a foolish statement to make that the tribals don't stand a chance---the tribals have been living at 10 k plus alitude all their lives---the ground rules of high altitude warfare are totally different---these mountains are not barren mountains----they have evergreen forest all over the terrain---the mountains climb to 15 thousand feet plus---there is not one mountain but a who range of mountains going up into the sky and valleys falling away----.

On this, I really blame Musharraf and his team for not showing videos of the terrain that the millitary has to face on these encounters all the time in every tv interview---when you say to someone that there is a 20 k ft tall mountain in my backyard---they can only relate it to the 5 k tall mountain in their backyards---when you relate to them about the 20 k plus mountain ranges that you have in your frontier areas, the relate it to the 9 k tall mountain ranges that they have in their states---when they relate to their mountains---they are imagining what they do on the weekend---they drive through the mountain pass through a wide road that is open 12 months 24/7 regardless of weather---where there is phone, gas food service available, where they can breathe fresh air and then they come home. What they don't know is there is no food, there are no roads, no communication, and hardly any air to breathe for an average JOE----the mountains are treacherous because of their altitude---the weather changes when it feels like and there are a thousand different places to hide the army.

High altitude Humvees have to be air lifted by the helicopters---in order for them to be carried up there, most of their armour is removed---there is a shortage of troops and ammunition delivery to the higher mountain posts---when things go wrong on the ground and in bad weather, there is no helicopter rescue possible---most of the american helicopters cannot fly over the mountain tops either---there are so many issues that it becomes a nightmare just to operate an offensive gurad post.

If it was so easy for the u s to get into that region, it would have been done a long time ago.

Second thing is that u s does not want to finish off the threat.Once they finish off the threat, they will be made to leave afghanistan---they donot want to leave their new found colony and millitary base----Mullah Omar was a fool----after Saddam Hussein he has done immense damage to the sovereignity of muslim nations. That fool and the taliban are so thick headed that they don't want to acknowledge the damage---they want to hide behind the pushtun practise of providing refuge to the guest---just to save the live of the guest---they have ended up killing 100's of thousand muslims and made a muslim nation a slave / colony nation.

 

[Introvert]

Read my signature ppl.

 

[mujahideen]

I think any US incursion in the tribal areas would be met by more resistance and this time the resistance would not be limited to the tribals...folks from Punjab and Sind would be going up north even if Pakistani Armed forces officially sit out.

I concur with you and would also add that these assumptions about China or so and so coming to Pakistan's assistance is just wishful thinking. No less than Musharraf (a first in the history of Pakistan) as the President of Pakistan has made comments that Pakistan is all alone. There is no backup and there is no one coming to our aid. Realistically nobody (at a state level) would be stupid enough to openly come to the aid of Pakistan if she were subjected to a US invasion. So we need to be realistic in how we perceive these threats.

With all due resoect I disagree with you on the part where you have said that folks from Sindh and Punjab would not help. I think that every Pakistani would be against an invasion and these sorts of attacks as mentioned will be met with full resistance by the entire Pakistan nation. We are indeed a divided nation but not divided enough to sit back and not do anything while our brothers are in a state of war. I think if an attack does happen we will see the tribals in the front backed by the Pakistani Army.
Now I agree with you about the part of China not getting involved. China though as strong as an ally it might be of Pakistan would like to keep itself out of this matter physically but I gaurantee you China will be the country doing the most when it comes to the diplomatic part. China right now is focusing on its economy and if it gets involved I predict World War 3.
The bottom line is that the U.S. is not stupid enough to take such a bold action because they know their is nothing more dangerous than a united Pakistani nation fighting a war. These are just threats. The U.S. is having a hard time in Iraq and Afghanistan, ant it also seems like Iran is also giving them a hard time, they are too weak right now to fight a war against Pakistan. In the near future I think if their is a possibility of war we ought to go to Russia and seek their help, of course they wont help us but I think their is a possibilty with India now in the U.S. side they just might need Pakistan.

 

[blain2]

Mujahideen,

Re-read my post . I said that folks from all over Pakistan WOULD go and fight against an invasion of the tribal areas.