WASHINGTON, July 25
White House officials told Congress Wednesday the
United States would be willing to launch military strikes against al-Qaida bases inside Pakistan.
The administration officials said at a joint hearing of the House Intelligence and Armed Services Committees that raids by Special Forces commandos would be an option if there were sufficient information about an al-Qaida base in a remote area of Pakistan, The
Washington Post reported.
The hearing was called after a national intelligence estimate last week said al-Qaida had set up shop in North Waziristan, a rugged region of
Pakistan outside the control of the Islamabad government.
Some committee members expressed a desire by the public to have the United States take a more aggressive role in eliminating terrorist bases, the Post said.
The officials stressed that the Pakistani government would be in the loop before any attacks were mounted. Past air attacks in the ungoverned regions nevertheless sparked anti-American protests in Pakistan.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
