DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - U.S.A./PAKISTAN: "IT HASN'T WORKED FOR PAKISTAN...IT HASN'T WORKED FOR THE UNITED STATES"

Bush aides admit failure of bin Laden strategy
Grim report on a strengthening al-Qaida may lead to more aggressive tactics in Pakistan
By MARK MAZZETTI and DAVID E. SANGER

WASHINGTON — President Bush's top counterterrorism advisers acknowledged Tuesday that the strategy for fighting Osama bin Laden's leadership of al-Qaida in Pakistan had failed, as the White House released a grim new intelligence assessment that has forced the administration to consider more aggressive measures inside Pakistan.

The intelligence report, the most formal assessment since the Sept. 11 attacks about the terrorist threat facing the United States, concludes that the United States is losing ground on a number of fronts in the fight against al-Qaida, and describes the terrorist organization as having significantly strengthened over the past two years.

In identifying the main reasons for al-Qaida's resurgence, intelligence officials and White House aides pointed the finger squarely at a hands-off approach toward the tribal areas by Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who last year brokered a cease-fire with tribal leaders in an attempt to drain support for Islamic extremism in the region.

"It hasn't worked for Pakistan," said Frances Townsend, who heads the Homeland Security Council at the White House. "It hasn't worked for the United States."

While Bush administration officials had reluctantly endorsed the cease-fire as part of their effort to prop up the Pakistani leader, they expressed relief on Tuesday that Musharraf may have to abandon that approach as the accord now appears to have unraveled.

But American officials make little secret of their skepticism that Musharraf has the capability to be effective in the mountainous territory along the Afghan border, where his troops have been bloodied before by a mix of al-Qaida leaders and tribes that view the territory as their own, not part of Pakistan.

"We've seen in the past that he's sent people in and get wiped out," one senior official said.

"You can tell from the language today that we take the threat from the tribal areas incredibly seriously. It has to be dealt with," the official said. "If he can deal with it, amen. But if he can't, he's got to build and borrow the capability."

The bleak intelligence assessment was made public in the middle of a bitter congressional debate about the future of American policy in Iraq. White House officials said it bolsters the Bush administration's argument that Iraq is the "central front" in the war on terror, since that is where al-Qaida operatives are directly attacking American forces.

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Pertinent Links:

1) Bush aides admit failure of bin Laden strategy