Washington: US President George Bush’s senior national security advisers are debating whether to expand the authority of the CIA and the military to conduct far more aggressive covert operations in the tribal areas of Pakistan. The debate is in response to intelligence reports that Al Qaeda and the Taliban are intensifying efforts to destabilise the Pakistani government, according to several senior administration officials.
Vice president Dick Cheney, secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, and a number of President Bush’s top national security advisers met at the White House on Friday to discuss the proposal, part of a broad reassessment of American strategy after the assassination 10 days ago of Pakistan’s opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto.
Several participants in the meeting argued that the threat to President Pervez Musharraf ’s government is so grave that both Musharraf and Pakistan’s new military leadership are likely to give the United States more latitude, said officials who declined to speak on record because of the highly delicate nature of the discussions. The specific options under discussion are unclear and highly classified.
Washington: US President George Bush’s senior national security advisers are debating whether to expand the authority of the CIA and the military to conduct far more aggressive covert operations in the tribal areas of Pakistan. The debate is in response to intelligence reports that Al Qaeda and the Taliban are intensifying efforts to destabilise the Pakistani government, according to several senior administration officials. 
