White House Report: Pakistan Not Doing Enough Against Insurgents (Henry)

Ed Henry reports for CNN:

Despite repeated Obama administration claims in public that Pakistan is working hard to crack down on militants, a private White House review uses unusually tough language to suggest the ally is not doing nearly enough to confront the Taliban and al Qaeda, according to a copy of the report to Congress obtained by CNN.

The report notes that from March to June, the Pakistani military "continued to avoid military engagements that would put it in direct conflict with Afghan Taliban or [al Qaeda] forces in North Waziristan. This is as much a political choice as it is a reflection of an under-resourced military prioritizing its targets."

The report notes bluntly that despite having a presence of 140,000 military and paramilitary personnel, the Pakistani military has been "nonetheless constrained to disrupting and displacing extremist groups without making lasting gains against the insurgency."

The White House assessment is particularly tough on Pakistan's inability to make gains in South Waziristan, where many analysts believe key al Qaeda leaders have gained a safe haven to use as a base to plot terror attacks against Western targets.

"In South Waziristan, the Pakistan military continued to conduct small-scale operations against those militants who did not flee in late 2009," the report says. "But the military largely stayed close to the roads and did not engage against those TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban) militants who returned after fleeing into North Waziristan."

The report also alludes to the repetitive nature of the country making brief progress, only to fall back down, noting that Pakistani military forces recently disrupted insurgent networks in the north. "It is notable that some of these areas had been previously cleared on numerous occasions," it says.

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