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quote: Pakistani military officials said the Bush administration has not asked to station large numbers of ground troops in the country, a request that would be politically difficult for the Pakistan government to meet and logistically difficult for U.S. forces to carry out. Sensitive to the problems of having U.S. troops operate in a conservative Muslim nation, especially in an area of Pakistan where Afghans are considered ethnic brothers, Pentagon planners are aiming to minimize the number of U.S. troops that would be based there, officials said.
One possible course of action calls for Special Forces to conduct raids on suspected terrorists in Afghanistan from Pakistan. The countries share a 1,500-mile border. But the plan calls for stationing most of the assault troops outside Pakistan and flying them to Pakistan at the last minute to stage the raids, officials said. Pentagon officials are discussing basing some forces aboard Navy ships in the Arabian Sea and having them use helicopters to move into Afghanistan. U.S. troops might also be based in friendly Persian Gulf nations, such as Oman and Kuwait.
Washington Post
I suppose it could be much, much worse...<sigh> |
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