Pakistan Rejects Talk Of U.S. Action

WASHINGTON, July 22 — One of President Bushs counterterrorism advisers said today that the United States would consider using military force inside Pakistan if it identified key Al Qaeda targets there, but the Pakistani foreign minister angrily rejected such talk as irresponsible and said American attacks in the sensitive border area could cause civilian deaths and enrage Pakistani opinion.

Frances Fragos Townsend, the homeland security adviser, said that if the United States had actionable targets, anywhere in the world, including Pakistan, then we would pursue those targets.

There are no options that are off the table, she said on CNN.

But a clearly testy Pakistani foreign minister, Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, warned against American attacks in his country; he said Pakistani forces were capable of policing the area and destroying Al Qaeda targets, but with less chance of killing civilians.

American senators of both parties largely supported Ms. Townsend, although they cautioned against undercutting Pakistans already embattled president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, with dangerously unpredictable results.

Ms. Townsend spoke days after a new National Intelligence Estimate found that Al Qaeda had reconstituted itself in the rugged northwestern provinces of Pakistan and was planning new attacks — a message that critics seized on to mean that the Bush administrations focus on Iraq had diverted resources from a potentially more important front in the fight against Al Qaeda.

The administration, in turn, has blamed the truce agreement that General Musharraf entered into in September with tribal leaders in those provinces and said Pakistan needed to adopt a tougher approach — something the Islamabad government insists it has already been doing.

Pakistans commitment cannot be doubted by anybody, Foreign Minister Kasuri said, when asked on CNN why Pakistan was not doing more. Let the United States provide us with actionable intelligence, and you will find that Pakistan will never be lacking.

He noted that Pakistani troops in the region had recently taken hundreds of casualties. Antigovernment violence there flared up after Pakistani troops this month attacked and killed scores of Islamic militants holding out in the Red Mosque in Islamabad, apparently wrecking General Musharrafs September agreement.

Violence in Pakistani tribal areas, including lethal ambushes and suicide attacks, have followed a rise in protests against General Musharraf just months before Pakistani elections, leaving the country at a delicate pass — and perhaps explaining Mr. Kasuris angry tone.

Some people are talking irresponsibly of attack in the tribal areas by the United States, the foreign minister said, referring not specifically to Ms. Townsends comments but to American news reports that he blamed on government leaks, presumably meant to shift blame from the Bush administration for allowing the resurgence of Al Qaeda.

People in Pakistan get very upset when, despite all the sacrifices that Pakistan has been making, you have the sort of questions that are sometimes asked by the American media, Mr. Kasuri said.

He said that the Pakistani military was more than ready to attack Al Qaeda targets, but that what we need is actionable intelligence. Indiscriminate attacks could only undercut efforts to win hearts and minds in the sensitive region, he said. We cannot afford what is conveniently called collateral damage.

After Mr. Kasuris appearance on , CNN, Ms. Townsend was to respond.

I understand their anger, she said of the Pakistanis. Theyve taken hundreds of casualties.

But, Ms. Townsend said, job No. 1 is protecting the American people, and she reiterated that we use all our instruments of national power to be effective.

Hinting broadly that American special operations teams or unmanned aircraft were already involved in the troubled region bordering Afghanistan, she said: Just because we dont speak about things publicly doesnt mean were not doing things.

Those sorts of covert tactics are considered more likely than any frontal military assault.

Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, said that he believed that Osama bin Laden was living in the border area of Pakistan, and that General Musharrafs September agreement had backfired.

Al Qaeda has been able to regain some of its momentum, Mr. McConnell said on Meet the Press on NBC. The leaderships intact. They have operational planners, and they have safe haven. The thing theyre missing are operatives inside the United States.

Democratic senators appearing on Sunday morning news programs agreed with Ms. Townsend that attacks inside Pakistan should not be ruled out — but underscored the importance of not undermining General Musharraf, who they said remained one of the closest American allies.

I dont think we should take anything off the table, said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader. The invasion of Iraq, the worst foreign policy blunder in the history of the country, has created an area for Al Qaeda that didnt exist before the invasion, but we should go after them wherever they are, he said on Face the Nation on CBS. Theyre evil people.

But by undermining General Musharraf, Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, a Democrat on the intelligence committee, said on Fox, we create a bigger safe haven with an unstable government.

And Senator Kit Bond, a Missouri Republican on the intelligence committee, said on Fox News Sunday that so long as General Musharraf remained in power and continued cooperating with the United States, were going to continue to work with him.

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