U.S. OFFICIALS: ONE U.S. TEAM ALLOWED TO LOOK FOR U.B.L. IN PAKISTAN

US team allowed to hunt for Bin Laden in Pakistan

"WASHINGTON • A special US unit now has the authority to go after Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan without having to seek permission first, according to two US officials.

A comprehensive report on the hunt for Bin Laden run by the Washington Post says that Lieutenant General Stanley A McChrystal, the commander of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) operates on the understanding with Pakistan that US units will not enter Pakistan, except under extreme circumstances, and that Pakistan will deny giving them permission.

This is what happened in January 2006, when the JSOC troops clandestinely entered the village of Saidgai, two officials familiar with the operation said, and Pakistan protested.

“The authority,” one knowledgeable person said, “follows the target”: if the target is Bin Laden, the stakes are high enough for McChrystal to decide any action on his own.

The JSOC has been given more resources from the National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies. President Bush recently directed the team to “flood the zone” or intensify the search for Bin Laden.

The resources of the special group in terms of personnel and materials were also increased. However, no one is certain where the “zone” is.

Gary Berntsen, the former CIA officer who led the first and last hunt for bin Laden at Tora Bora in December 2001, told the Post, “This could all end tomorrow.”

One unsolicited walk-in, one tribesman seeking to collect the $25 million reward, one courier who would rather his kids grow up in the US, one dealmaker, “and this could all change,” he said.
A senior Pakistani intelligence official told the newspaper, “For technical intelligence ISI works hand in hand with the NSA (National Security Agency). The US assistance in building Pakistan’s capabilities for technical intelligence since 9/11 is superb.”

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Pertinent Links:

1) US team allowed to hunt for Bin Laden in Pakistan
2) Center for Security Policy