U.S. Plans Pakistan Awakening

A classified military strategy paper under review by U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa, FL, proposes an expanded U.S. military role in tribal areas of Pakistan. The document, drafted by members of the U.S. Special Forces Command and submitted for approval by counterintelligence officials, seeks to build a strategy of fighting al-Qaeda in Pakistan's lawless Waziristan Province that is modeled on the success in Iraq's Anbar Province. Known as the Anbar Awakening, tribal leaders in that formerly troubled part of the country suddenly turned on al-Qaeda fighters and sided with coalition and government forces. Now, military planners are proposing to implement a similar strategy in Pakistan, in the hopes of strengthening Pakistan's military in the fight against a growing al-Qaeda threat.

The proposal is aimed at building more local support in Waziristan for attacks against the elements of al-Qaeda that have set up residence there since the Pakistani government and tribal leaders signed an agreement ending hostilities between insurgent groups in the area and the Pakistani military. That agreement effectively created a no-go zone within Pakistan for the central government and allowed al-Qaeda a safe haven to launch attacks against the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The plan is reminiscent of another successful U.S. strategy in the war on terror. When American forces invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11th attacks, they did so largely as a supporting force to organized military groups already fighting the Taliban government of that country. The Northern Alliance had been engaged in a civil war with Taliban forces long before the United States set its sights on the government in Kabul. U.S. Special forces and air support provided the logistical, intelligence, and firepower support needed by the Northern Alliance, and enabled their forces to breakout of the northern region of the country and eventually push the Taliban out of power.

Pakistan itself has a ready-made paramilitary force operating in Waziristan known as the Frontier Corps. The Frontier Corps is a unit of Pakistan's Interior Ministry, not it's military, and is made up of recruits from the tribal areas. The unit has been under the increasing direction of the Pakistani Army since 2001, however, it is by no means a professional military fighting force. Now, the U.S. plan proposes that American military advisers begin training the Frontier Corps in an effort to improve its capabilities as well as serve as an alternative to local tribesmen deciding whether to put their loyalties with al-Qaeda fighters.

The plan does not call for direct U.S. military participation in military operations inside Pakistan, however, it does allow for U.S. involvement in strikes on specific targets under certain conditions. Largely, the U.S. presence would consist of trainers and advisers seeking to build goodwill with local tribal leaders. Al-Qaeda fighters have killed many local tribal leaders as they have increased their hold on Waziristan, and it is believed that their brutality towards the tribes can be turned against them, as it was in Anbar, Iraq.