NYTIMES LEAKS ANOTHER SECRET

NYTIMES: Secret U.S. Unit Trains Commandos in Pakistan

More than 70 United States military advisers and technical specialists are secretly working in Pakistan to help its armed forces battle Al Qaeda and the Taliban in the country’s lawless tribal areas, American military officials said.

The Americans are mostly Army Special Forces soldiers who are training Pakistani Army and paramilitary troops, providing them with intelligence and advising on combat tactics, the officials said. They do not conduct combat operations, the officials added.

They make up a secret task force, overseen by the United States Central Command and Special Operations Command. It started last summer, with the support of Pakistan’s government and military, in an effort to root out Qaeda and Taliban operations that threaten American troops in Afghanistan and are increasingly destabilizing Pakistan. It is a much larger and more ambitious effort than either country has acknowledged.

Pakistani officials have vigorously protested American missile strikes in the tribal areas as a violation of sovereignty and have resisted efforts by Washington to put more troops on Pakistani soil. President Asif Ali Zardari, who leads a weak civilian government, is trying to cope with soaring anti-Americanism among Pakistanis and a belief that he is too close to Washington.

Despite the political hazards for Islamabad, the American effort is beginning to pay dividends.

... Officials from both Pakistan and the United States agreed to disclose some details about the American military advisers and the enhanced intelligence sharing to help dispel impressions that the missile strikes were thwarting broader efforts to combat a common enemy. They spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the increasingly powerful anti-American segment of the Pakistani population.

The Pentagon had previously said about two dozen American trainers conducted training in Pakistan late last year. More than half the members of the new task force are Special Forces advisers; the rest are combat medics, communications experts and other specialists. Both sides are encouraged by the new collaboration between the American and Pakistani military and intelligence agencies against the militants.

WELL, THE POLITICAL HAZARDS FOR THE ZEDARI REGIME JUST WENT UP - COURTESY OF THE NYTIMES.

I THINK THE NYTIMES ARTICLE HAS GONE FURTHER THAN THE LEAKERS HAD INTENDED.

I WOULD GUESS THAT THEY PROBABLY ONLY INTENDED THIS INFO TO BE USED AS BACKGROUND TO BUTTRESS THEIR ARGUMENTS THAT THERE IS A GREAT DEAL OF SECRET COOPERATION BETWEEN THE USA AND PAKISTAN.

FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR TROOPS, OUR ALLIES AND THE HOMELAND: THE NYTIMES SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN.